Summary
A set of ten durum wheat genotypes was grown in experiments conducted under four contrasting Mediterranean conditions during three years to assess the effect of latitude and water regime on grain growth and grain yield formation. The relationship between grain weight and accumulated growing degree-days (GDD) from anthesis was described by a logistic equation and final grain weight (W) and maximum rate (R) and duration (D) of grain filling were calculated from the fitted curves. Thousand kernel weight (TKW) was positively related to grain yield at both latitudes and water regimes, although the contribution of the number of grains per m 2 to final yield was only significant in the south, where environmental constraints likely limited the achievement of a large grain set. Differences in final grain weight between latitudes could be mostly explained by differences in the grain filling rate, while changes on W between water regimes were due to altered grain filling durations. Under northern conditions grain yield was positively associated to grain filling duration but negatively related to the maximum rate of grain filling, while in the south the coefficients of the grain filling curves had little or no effect on final yield. Reductions in grain yield under rainfed conditions were due to the fall in the number of grains per m 2 since TKW was not significantly affected by drought.
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Royo, C., Villegas, D., Rharrabti, Y. et al. Grain growth and yield formation of durum wheat grown at contrasting latitudes and water regimes in a Mediterranean environment. CEREAL RESEARCH COMMUNICATIONS 34, 1021–1028 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1556/CRC.34.2006.2-3.233
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1556/CRC.34.2006.2-3.233