Abstract:
In drought prone environments wheat crop growth and production depends strongly on
the water stored in the soil befo
re anthesis and, although so
me water remains in the soil
after harvest, plants experience water deficit. In order to investigate whether water ex-
traction patterns, as a plant fe
ature, have a regulating effect
on the amount of water used
by them at different soil depths, three wheat cultivars (Asakaze, BR9, BR10) differing in
origin and drought resistance in terms of grain yield were grown in pots under gradually
downward soil drying conditions. The total water used by cultivars was the same up to the
post anthesis stage of growth when plants
were harvested. However, Asakaze used more
water from emergence to the beginning of the stem elongation period of growth and BR9
used more after that period up to the post an
thesis stage. Cultivars
showed significant dif-
ferences in root length at different soil de
pths. Asakaze was predicted to use more water
from topsoil layers compared to BR9 and BR10. On the other hand, BR9 was expected to
use more water from deep layers in comparison to Asakaze. These were suggested to be
the effect of the higher root density of each cultivar in the top and deep soil layers. It is
also suggested that higher root length density in deep soil layers could be targeted as a fa-
vorable trait for breeding wheat Cultivars,
which are growing under gradually downward
soil drying conditions.
