Assessment of Wheat Genotypes under Low Irrigation Conditions Using Agro-physiological Traits and Grain Quality in North Delta of Egypt

Water scarcity in Egypt and globally makes producing new varieties having high grain yield using less water requirements is an important goal for wheat breeders. The present research was conducted to assess the response of sixteen bread wheat genotypes under normal irrigation (five irrigations) and low irrigation (one irrigation, 25 days, after sowing irrigation.) during 2018/19 and 2020/21 seasons at the Experimental Farm of Sakha Agricultural Research Station, Egypt. A randomized complete block design with three replicates was used for each irrigation treatment separately. Results showed that the normal irrigation treatment had considerably higher mean values for all studied traits except, proline, malondialdehyde, activity of peroxidase and catalase enzymes,1000-kernel weight, protein content, wet and dry gluten which had significantly higher mean values under low irrigation treatment. Under low irrigation conditions, the four genotypes Sakha 95, Line 4, Line 8 and Misr 3 superior other genotypes in grain yield with insignificant difference among them. Sakha 95 and Line 8 had the highest chlorophyll a and b, proline content, chlorophyll florescence, activity of both catalase and peroxidase enzymes. While, Line 4 had the highest activity of catalase and peroxidase, heaviest 1000-kernel weight and high content of crude protein. In addition to Misr 3 recorded the best values of both wet and dry gluten. It could be recommended with cultivation Sakha 95 or Misr 3 to achieve high grain yield with less irrigation water. While Line 8 and Line 4 need more evaluation to use it in the regions which suffering from water shortage also it will be benefit for breeder to use these genotypes in wheat breeding program.