Evaluation of Initial Yield Perfomances of Perennial Wheat Genotypes and Their F1 Hybrids

The rising demand for sustainable food production due to climate challenges has increased tthe interest in perennial crops as potential solutions. Perennial wheat, a hybrid derived from crossbreeding traditional wheat (Triticum spp.) and perennial species generally Thinopyrum spp., offers promising ecological benefits, including enhanced soil health, reduced erosion, and carbon sequestration. This study evaluates the first-year yield performances of 20 perennial wheat genotypes and 23 F1 hybrids obtained from intraspecific crosses among these lines, compared to two commercial bread wheat cultivars. The field experiments were conducted over two consecutive growing seasons (2021-2022 and 2022-2023) at experimental fields of Ege University Field Crops Department, the seeds were sown in a randomized complete block design for the perennial lines and a randomized incomplete block design for F1 hybrids. Key agronomic traits measured were plant height (PH), grain number per spike (GNS), thousand kernel weight (TKW), and plot yield (PY). The ANOVA indicated significant genotypic effects on all traits (p