COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF EARLY ESTABLISHMENT PERFORMANCES OF PERENNIAL WHEAT GENOTYPES

Perennial wheat (Triticum aestivum L. × Thinopyrum spp.) presents a promising alternative to conventional annual wheat for sustainable agriculture, offering advantages such as enhanced soil health and reduced environmental impact. This study evaluated the early establishment performances of 20 perennial wheat genotypes sourced from diverse donors alongside two commercial wheat varieties under rain-fed conditions in Bornova, Izmir, Türkiye. Two separate field trials were conducted over two growing seasons (2018/19 and 2020/21), assessed key yield components, including plant height (PH), spike number (SN), spike length (SL), thousand grain weight (TGW), and overall grain yield (GY). Results showed that perennial wheat genotypes exhibited higher plant height and spike length compared to common wheat but had lower grain numbers per spike and TGW. On average, perennial wheat achieved 40% of the grain yield of commercial wheat varieties, with significant variability among genotypes. Notably, the genotype Pw18 demonstrated satisfactory grain yield performance, achieving 5.21 tons ha-1, close to common wheat yields evaluated in the study. These findings highlight the potential of specific perennial wheat genotypes for further development in sustainable cropping systems. However, further investigation is needed to assess the quality characteristics of these genotypes, which will be crucial for their potential use.