C. Royo, R. Blanco
Dec 21, 1998
Citations
1
Influential Citations
23
Citations
Journal
Field Crops Research
Abstract
Abstract Eight field experiments involving two sowing dates at each of the two contrasting environments during 2 years were conducted to study the suitability of potassium iodide (KI) to mimic drought stress in triticale (X Triticosecale Wittmack). A concentration of 0.3% of KI was applied 10 days after anthesis on cv. Trujillo and three near-isogenic lines derived from it. Both drought stress and KI caused a similar reduction in grain yield (42% and 47%, respectively), number of kernels per spike (16% and 18%, respectively), and kernel weight (17% and 24%, respectively). The reduction caused by chemical treatment with KI on yield and yield components was greater under irrigated than under rainfed conditions and, in the absence of irrigation, it was less for the late sowing. The senescence agent did not affect the number of spikes per m 2 , but it caused a decrease in the number of kernels per spike. The overall effect of the senescence agent on plant productivity was similar to the reduction caused by drought. The ranking of the genotypes after chemical treatment was basically the same than under drought conditions for yield and yield components. Principal component analysis based on a set of variables related to yield ability and other agronomic traits showed that the overall response of the plant to drought stress and to KI application was similar. However, canonical discriminant analysis showed that kernel weight on the main spike was more reduced by KI than by drought. It was concluded that potassium iodide applied over the plant canopy (including the spikes) may mimic the effects of drought, not only during grain filling, but before anthesis.