ASSESSING THE EFFECT OF IRRIGATION REGIMES ON THE GROWTH AND YIELD OF WHEAT (Triticum aestivum) VARIETIES IN THE GUINEA SAVANAH ZONE OF NIGERIA

Wheat crop despites it important, the production is seriously limited by water stress in Nigeria where the production is mostly done in the Northern region. As the population is increasing, the production of wheat should increase. Increase production in Nigeria will depend on proper field trial and selection of stress resistance varieties. Breeders are in search of superior traits that can improved yield under water stress for use in varietal improvement. Hence, understanding which traits will be instrumental for yield increase is vital. This study investigated the response of three wheat varieties to three irrigation regimes with a view to determine which trait is related to improve grain yield production under moisture stress. The experiment was laid using a split plot design with irrigation as the main plot and variety as sub-plots, replicated three times. Some Morphological and yield related data were recorded at maturity. Results show that irrigation has a significant effect on the morphology and performance of all the varieties, similarly, some traits such as biomass, seed weight, spike length, and spike number were found to be related to grain yield. Therefore, careful manipulation of these traits in the wheat breeding program could increase wheat yield in the study area. KAUZ and IMAM were found to yield better than ATTILA. Key words: Irrigation, Tropical, wheat, Morphological traits, Grain yield