Characterising variation in wheat traits under hostile soil conditions in India

Khokhar, Jaswant S.; Sareen, Sindu; Tyagi, Bhudeva S.; Singh, Gyanendra; Chowdhury, Apurba K.; Dhar, Tapamay; Singh, Vinod; King, Ian P.; Young, Scott D.; Broadley, Martin R.

Abstract

Intensive crop breeding has increased wheat yields and production in India. Wheat improvement in India typically involves selecting yield and component traits under non-hostile soil conditions at regional scales. The aim of this study is to quantify G*E interactions on yield and component traits to further explore site-specific trait selection for hostile soils. Field experiments were conducted at six sites (pH range 4.5-9.5) in 2013-14 and 2014-15, in three agro-climatic regions of India. At each site, yield and component traits were measured on 36 genotypes, representing elite varieties from a wide genetic background developed for different regions. Mean grain yields ranged from 1.0 to 5.5 t ha⁻¹ at hostile and non-hostile sites, respectively. Site (E) had the largest effect on yield and component traits, however, interactions between genotype and site (G*E) affected most traits to a greater extent than genotype alone. Within each agro-climatic region, yield and component traits correlated positively between hostile and non-hostile sites. However, some genotypes performed better under hostile soils, with site-specific relationships between yield and component traits, which supports the value of ongoing site-specific selection activities.

Citation

Khokhar, J. S., Sareen, S., Tyagi, B. S., Singh, G., Chowdhury, A. K., Dhar, T., Singh, V., King, I. P., Young, S. D., & Broadley, M. R. (2017). Characterising variation in wheat traits under hostile soil conditions in India. PLoS ONE, 12(6), Article e0179208. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0179208

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jun 5, 2017
• Online Publication Date: Jun 12, 2017
• Publication Date: Jun 12, 2017
• Deposit Date: Jun 15, 2017
• Publicly Available Date: Jun 15, 2017
• Journal: PLOS ONE
• Electronic ISSN: 1932-6203
• Publisher: Public Library of Science
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 12
• Issue: 6
• Article Number: e0179208
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0179208
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/865516
• Publisher URL: http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0179208
• Contract Date: Jun 15, 2017