RAPID SCREENING OF WHEAT GERMPLASM FOR DROUGHT PRONE ENVIRONMENT

Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) has been cultivated over wider ranges of climatic changes. Changing rainfall pattern has been drastically affecting its yield and production, especially in the areas where there are least rainfalls; irrigation water is not available and are highly dependent upon conserved soil moisture. Development of drought tolerant genotypes for such drought prone areas essential for the farmers, there is a dire need to exploit the rapid and efficient methods of screening large germplasm in wheat. In the present study one hundred and eight genotypes were screened by “PEG Assay Germination Test”. PEG assay proved an effective method for screening the large germplasm as fifteen accessions were finally identified are finally selected from 108 accessions. The promising fifteen genotypes with five checks were evaluated in greenhouse pot experiment on the basis of yield related traits and proline content. Among the fifteen accessions, “12160” accession revealed the better performance in all traits especially for grain weight and proline content.