Evaluation of rapeseed (Brassica napus L.) cultivars for resistance against water deficit stress

A. Abbasian, H. Aminpanah, A. H. Shirani Rad

Abstract: Among abiotic stresses, drought stress is one of the most serious detrimental factors affecting the growth and production of the oil seed canola plant (Brassica napus L.) in arid and semi arid regions worldwide particularly Iran. Identification of crop cultivars tolerant to drought stress will allow more extensive use of lands characterized as marginal because of water shortage in arid and semi-arid areas. To evaluate the effects of water deficit stress on some qualitative and quantitative characteristics of canola cultivars, this experiment in a field trial carried out as a split-plot design based on randomized complete block design (RCBD ) with four replications at the experimental farm of Seed and Plant Improvement Institute, Karaj, Iran. Tow irrigation levels were applied in main plots and subplots, which consisted of split application of cultivars at 23 levels. Cultivars differed significantly with respect to seed yield. Zarfam and Elvice cultivars under stress condition had the lowest seed yields. The percent reductions at recommended cultivars were 5.51% for Elvice and 11.04 % for Zarfam, in plants grown in stress as compared to control. Overall, the results of this study suggested that, Zarfam and Elvice cultivars would be important for breeding programs designed for water-stress environments and in identifying drought-tolerant lines under arid and semi-arid conditions.

Keywords: cluster analysis; drought stress; drought tolerance; oil yield; seed yield

Date published: 2019-03-25