Drought tolerance is a highly complex trait and one of the important components of yield stability in wheat. An experiment was therefore conducted to study the drought tolerance status of 14 high-yielding wheat varieties based on morphological characteristics under a randomized complete block design following factorial arrangement with three replications. Variety × Treatment × Year interactions of wheat genotypes were studied for various morphological traits under normal and drought stress conditions for 2 years in plants grown in pots. Significant differences were observed among the 14 varieties of wheat. Sutlej-86 was found to be highly affected by drought, with maximum reductions in plant height, spike length and number of spikelets/spike. The variety with the maximum tolerance to drought was Bahawalpur-97; this variety also had the lowest reductions in the number of fertile tillers/plant, the number of spikelets/spike, spike weight, the number of grains/spike, 1000-grain weight, grain yield/spike, total biomass and stress susceptibility and tolerance indices. Stronger correlations among the studied attributes under drought stress over normal conditions further highlighted drought stress adversities. The studied traits are thus recognized as drought tolerance indicators for varietal selection, and varieties showing less reduction under drought could be used as a standard check in breeding programmes to identify lineages with drought tolerance and could be recommended for drought-stressed areas.

中文翻译：

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水分限制条件下高产小麦品种的评价

耐旱性是一种高度复杂的性状，是小麦产量稳定性的重要组成部分之一。因此，进行了一项试验，研究了 14 个基于形态特征的高产小麦品种在随机完全区组设计下的抗旱性状况，该试验采用因子排列​​和 3 次重复。在盆栽植物中，研究了小麦基因型在正常和干旱胁迫条件下 2 年的各种形态特征的品种 × 处理 × 年相互作用。14个小麦品种间存在显着差异。发现 Sutlej-86 受干旱影响很大，植物高度、穗长和小穗/穗数的减少幅度最大。耐旱性最高的品种是Bahawalpur-97；该品种在可育分蘖数/株数、小穗/穗数、穗重、谷粒数/穗数、千粒重、谷粒产量/穗、总生物量和胁迫敏感性和耐受性方面的降幅也最低指数。与正常条件相比，干旱胁迫下研究属性之间更强的相关性进一步突出了干旱胁迫逆境。因此，所研究的性状被认为是品种选择的耐旱性指标，在干旱条件下表现出较少减少的品种可用作育种计划中的标准检查，以确定具有耐旱性的谱系，并可推荐用于干旱胁迫地区。总生物量和胁迫敏感性和耐受性指数。与正常条件相比，干旱胁迫下研究属性之间更强的相关性进一步突出了干旱胁迫逆境。因此，所研究的性状被认为是品种选择的耐旱性指标，在干旱条件下表现出较少减少的品种可用作育种计划中的标准检查，以确定具有耐旱性的谱系，并可推荐用于干旱胁迫地区。总生物量和胁迫敏感性和耐受性指数。与正常条件相比，干旱胁迫下研究属性之间更强的相关性进一步突出了干旱胁迫逆境。因此，所研究的性状被认为是品种选择的耐旱性指标，在干旱条件下表现出较少减少的品种可用作育种计划中的标准检查，以确定具有耐旱性的谱系，并可推荐用于干旱胁迫地区。