Loading...

Crop Research

Integrating morpho-physiological and grain quality indicators to identify climate-responsive wheat genotypes under contrasting agro-ecologies in India


DOI: 10.31830/2454-1761.2025.CR-1042    | Article Id: CR-1042 | Page : 280-288
Citation :- Integrating morpho-physiological and grain quality indicators to identify climate-responsive wheat genotypes under contrasting agro-ecologies in India. Crop Res. 60: 280-288
GADDAM TARUN, KRISHAN PAL, KAVITA RANI, R. P. SAHARAN AND MAYUR H. CHAUDHARI iamtarungaddam@gmail.com
Address : Department of Genetics and Plant Breeding, Guru Kashi University, Talwandi Sabo-151302, Punjab, India
Submitted Date : 8-07-2025
Accepted Date : 6-08-2025
Online Published:

Abstract

Wheat, a staple for global food security, faces increasing threats from environmental stresses, particularly terminal heat, alongside a continuous demand for enhanced grain quality. Understanding the genetic basis of morpho-physiological and quality traits, and their environmental interactions, is crucial for crop improvement. This study aimed to identify climate-responsive wheat genotypes by comprehensively assessing morpho-physiological, yield, and grain quality parameters. The research spanned two Rabi seasons (2023-24 and 2024-25) across contrasting Indian agro-ecologies: Talwandi Sabo, Punjab (normal conditions), and Ongole, Andhra Pradesh (late-sown, heat-stressed conditions). Forty-three diverse wheat genotypes, including three checks, were evaluated using a Randomised Block Design (RBD) for field experiments and a Completely Randomised Design (CRD) for laboratory analyses. The investigation focused on dissecting genotypic distinctions, elucidating trait interrelationships, quantifying varietal separations, assessing protein content, and characterising heat stress impact through various indices and multivariate analyses. Significant genotypic distinctions were observed for all 26 evaluated traits, encompassing phenological, morphological, yield-contributing, seedling vigour, and grain quality attributes. Heat stress accelerated phenological development, drastically reduced most morpho-physiological traits and yield components, leading to substantial reductions in grain yield. Interestingly, mean test weight and protein content increased under stress. Varietal analyses showed distinct performances: G40 (PBW 475) excelled in optimal conditions, while G27 (HD 3386), G4 (WH 1140), and G32 (PBW 706) showed promise under heat stress. HD 2307 consistently exhibited high protein content. Stress indices and Principal Component Analysis (PCA) successfully differentiated heat-tolerant genotypes (e.g., HD 2307, PBW 677, HD 3386) from susceptible ones. This research provides a robust framework for developing high-yielding, climate-resilient wheat cultivars for contrasting Indian agro-ecologies.
 

Keywords

Environment-wise mean comparisons grain quality heat stress principal component analysis varietal identification wheat

References

Amgain, L. P., Poudel, M. R., Adhikari, S. and Dhakal, D. (2024). Trends of agro-climatic variability and multi-year prediction of rice and wheat yields under the changing climatic scenarios using DSSAT crop model in Nepalese western Terai. Res. Crop. 25: 369-78.
Bapela, T., Shimelis, H., Tislo, T. J. and Mathew, I. (2022). Genetic improvement of wheat for drought tolerance: Progress, challenges and opportunities. Plants 11: doi:10.3390/ plants11101331.
Daloz, A., Rydsaa, J., Hodnebrog, O., Sillmann, J., Van Oort, B., Mohr, C., Agrawal, M., Emberson, L., Stordal, F. and Zhang, T. (2021). Direct and indirect impacts of climate change on wheat yield in the Indo-Gangetic plain in India. J. Agric. Food Res. 4:  doi:10.1016/j.jafr.2021.100132.
Divya, P., Preeti., Vikram, S., Shikha, Y. and Panwar, I.S. (2021) Allelic and bio-chemical characterization of Indian wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) varieties and breeding lines for quality traits. Indian J. Agric. Sci. 91: 1382-87.
Djanaguiraman, M., Narayanan, S., Erdayani, E. and Prasad, P. V. V. (2020). Effects of high temperature stress during anthesis and grain filling periods on photosynthesis, lipids and grain yield in wheat. BMC Plant Biology 20: doi:10.1186/s12870-020-02479-0.
Lamba, K., Kumar, M., Singh, V., Chaudhary, L., Sharma, R., Yashveer, S. and Dalal, M. S. (2023). Heat stress tolerance indices for identification of the heat tolerant wheat genotypes. Sci. Rep. 13: doi:10.1038/s41598-023-37634-8.
Lu, L., Liu, H., Wu, Y. and Yan, G. (2022). Wheat genotypes tolerant to heat at seedling stage tend to be also tolerant at adult stage: The possibility of early selection for heat tolerance breeding. Crop J. 10: 1006-13.
Melios, S., Ninou, E., Irakli, M., Tsivelika, N., Sistanis, I., Papathanasiou, F., Didos, S., Zinoviadou, K., Karantonis, H. C., Argiriou, A. and Mylonas, I. (2024). Effect of genotype, environment, and their interaction on the antioxidant properties of durum wheat: impact of nitrogen fertilization and sowing time. Agriculture 14:  doi:10.3390/agriculture14020328.
Narendra, M. C., Roy, C., Kumar, S., Virk, P. and De, N. (2021) Effect of terminal heat stress on physiological traits, grain zinc and iron content in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). Czech J. Genet. Plant Breed. 57: 43-50.
Poudel, M. R., Bhusal, P., Lamsal, K., Kafle, K., Ghimire, P., Ghimire, M., Rijal, A. and Lamsal, N. (2024). Influence of drought conditions on yield attributing characters and yield of wheat genotypes. Farm. Manage. 9: 12-17.
Poudel, M. R., Poudel, P. B. Puri, R. R. and Paudel, H. K. (2021). Variability, correlation and path coefficient analysis for agro-morphological traits in wheat genotypes (Triticum aestivum L.) under normal and heat stress conditions. Int. J. Appl. Sci. Biotechnol. 9: 65-74.
Rehman, H. U., Tariq, A., Ashraf, I., Ahmed, M., Muscolo, A., Basra, S. M. A. and Reynolds, M. (2021). Evaluation of physiological and morphological traits for improving spring wheat adaptation to terminal heat stress. Plants 10: doi:10.3390/plants10030455.
Sihag, P., Kumar, U., Sagwal, V., Kapoor, P., Singh, Y., Mehla, S., Balyan, P., Mir, R. R., Varshney, R. K., Singh, K. P. and Dhankher, O. P. (2023). Effect of terminal heat stress on osmolyte accumulation and gene expression during grain filling in bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). Plant Genome 17: doi:10.1002/tpg2.20307.
Singh, A., Singh, P., Javed, D. S.  and Yadav, S. (2025). Assessment of genetic variability and character association and path-coefficient analysis in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) under timely sown irrigated condition. J. Sci. Res. Rep. 31: 659–65. doi:10. 9734/jsrr/2025/v31i42990.
Singh, P. K., Prasad, S., Verma, A. K., Lal, B., Singh, R., Singh, S. P. and Dwivedi, D. K. (2020). Screening for heat tolerant traits in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) genotypes by physio-biochemical markers. Int. J. Curr. Microbiol. App. Sci. 9: 2335-43.
Tiwari, A., Prasad, S., Yadav, S., Kushwaha, V., Yadav, A., Gourav, A., Singh, P. K., Singh, S., Kumar, A. and Singh, R. P. (2023). The terminal heat stress and its effect on yield and yield contributing traits of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) genotypes. Int. J. Environ. Clim. Chang. 13: 2331–39.
Tiwari, U., Singh, S. V., Singh, R. K., Nageshwar, Saini, P. K., Mourya, A. K. and Saini, E. (2023). Study on genetic components of grain yield and its contributing characters in bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). Crop Res. 58: 69-75.
Tiwari, J. K., Rai, N., Singh, M. K., Reddy, Y. S. and Kumar, R. (2025). Delineating genotype × environment interaction for horticultural traits in tomato using GGE and AMMI biplot analysis. Sci. Rep. 15: doi:10.1038/s41598-025-09021-y.
USDA (2023). World agricultural production. United States Department of Agriculture Foreign Agricultural Service, Washington, DC, USA.
Yadav, N., Dashora, A., Choudhary, U., Dave, M. and Rathore, J. (2021). Assessment of genetic variability, heritability and genetic advance in bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) genotypes. Pharma Innov. J. 10: 528-30.
Zaidi, P. H., Vinayan, M. T., Nair, S. K., Kuchanur, P. H., Kumar, R., Singh, S. B., Tripathi, M. P., Patil, A., Ahmed, S., Hussain, A., Kulkarni, A. P., Wangmo, P., Tuinstra, M. R. and Prasanna, B. M. (2023). Heat-tolerant maize for rainfed hot, dry environments in the lowland tropics: From breeding to improved seed delivery. Crop J. 11: doi:10.1016/j.cj.2023.06.008.

Global Footprints