Performance of ten durum wheat (Triticum durum Desf.) cultivars under semi arid conditions (north africa -Algeria-)

The present study was conducted on the experimental site of station ITGC in setif. Grain yield (GY), vegetative above ground biomass (BIO) was measured. Thousand-kernel weight (TKW) was determined from sub-samples taken from harvested grains of each plot. Leaf senescence (S) was evaluated by numerical image analysis (NIA) and chlorophyll content (Chl) is measured by SPAD instrument. Study of correlation between grain yield and its components, refers to the absence of significant correlations between grain yield, thousand-kernel weight and biomass (r = 0.07 and 0.47 respectively) but there is a significant negative correlation between grain yield and number of days from sowing to heading (DH) (r = -0.75). A significant negative correlation between chlorophyll content and average senescence (Sa%) is noted in this study (r = -0.68). A significant positive correlation showed between 50s and grain yield suggests that genotypes with slow senescence showed highest yield. The absence of significant correlation between grain yield and thousand-kernel weight is noted when the water stress is shown during period of grain filling.