Abstract:

The most significant environmental concern in agriculture is the increase in global temperature. Wheat is one of the most important sources of food worldwide and plays a crucial role in the agricultural sector. However, drought caused by global warming seriously threatens wheat production. This study aimed to observe the responses of 20 bread wheat genotypes to drought during the wheat growing season. Grain yield, plant height, spike length, spikelet number per spike, grain number per spike, and stem diameter were examined. Statistically significant differences between genotypes were observed for all the examined traits at a p≤0.01 level. The genotype means in the study were determined as 115.86 kg/ha-1 for grain yield, 42.57 cm for plant height, 7.22 cm for spike length, 13.81 for spikelet number per spike, 12.21 for grain number per spike, and 2.39 cm for stem diameter. Based on these results, DZMP, Yerel-3, and Yerel-6 genotypes showed more tolerance to drought stress compared to other genotypes. If these genotypes are included in future breeding programs for selection and hybridization, it will provide researchers with new genetic material and resources for developing new drought-resistant varieties, reducing the impact of drought caused by global climate change on agricultural production.

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