Morpho-physiological characterization of some wheat genotypes under rainfed condition

A study was conducted to characterize the morpho-physiological traits of seven genotypes of wheat, viz. Sonalika, HDR-77, PBW-343, PBW-154, Raj-3077, C-306 and K-8027 under rain fed condition. Sonalika, HDR-77and C-306 are recommended for Assam. Genotypes were found to show significant variation for all the studied traits. Highest leaf area per plant was recorded in PBW-154 followed by Sonalika, whereas, highest specific weight of flag leaf (SLW) was observed in C-306 followed by PBW-343, HDR-77 and Sonalika. Genotype K-8027 registered the highest values of relative leaf water content (RLWC). Highest in-vivo nitrate reductase activity in the leaves was observed in C-306 followed by Sonalika and HDR-77. At maximum tillering stage, highest total leaf chlorophyll content was found in PBW-343, but at ear emergence, C-306 contained highest amount of total leaf chlorophyll. Genotype C-306 was found to accumulate highest total plant biomass and grain biomass followed by PBW-343, however, in terms of harvest index (HI) C-306 was superior followed by Raj-3077 and HDR-77. The study showed that cv. PBW-343 is a promising genotype from physiological and yield point of view next to C-306 for the rainfed condition of Assam.