Fruiting Efficiency in Iranian Wheat Cultivars: Genetic Changes over Time and Associations with Agronomic Traits

Fruiting efficiency (grain set per unit of spike dry weight at anthesis) could be considered as a promising trait for further improvement in wheat grain yield. The aims of this research were to study genotypic variations for Fruiting Efficiency (FE) among Iranian wheat cultivars, its change during past breeding activity as well as its association with main stem grain yield and its component. Eighty-one wheat cultivars released from 1930-2006 were examined under well watered conditions at Parsabad-Moghan during 2013-2014 growing season. Considerable variations were found for FE where this trait ranged from 30.9-105.5 grains per gram spike. Linear regression analysis of FE against the year of release revealed that this trait did not change significantly from old to modern cultivars. Although, correlation analysis showed no significant associations between FE and main stem grain yield, but the differences among cultivars with respect to grain number per spike and hence, main stem grain yield were partly related to cultivars differences in FE, emphasizing the potential values of FE for future breeding. It could be concluded that there are substantial variations in FE among Iranian wheat cultivars, suggesting that this trait could be changed in breeding programs.

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