Climatic influence on yield stability in durum wheat genotypes grown under minimum tillage and no tillage management

Context Climate change increasingly threatens the sustainability of Mediterranean cereal-based systems, where higher temperatures and irregular rainfall intensify water scarcity and soil degradation. Conservation agriculture and, in particular, reduced tillage is promoted to enhance soil quality and resilience, but their agronomic performance remains genotype and environment dependent. Objective The main objectives were: (i) to investigate how agrometeorological factors might influence agronomic traits, with a focus on the yield stability under minimum tillage and no tillage; (ii) to compare durum wheat genotype performance under conservation agricultural systems. Methods A seven-year field study was conducted on a set of 23 durum wheat ( Triticum turgidum ssp. durum ) genotypes grown under minimum (MT) and no tillage (NT) at Foggia, in South Italy. Regressions with environmental index and with weather growing parameters were carried out to establish the adaptability levels of durum wheat. Grain protein content and grain protein deviation were also evaluated. Results A large variability in terms of weather conditions was observed, in particular in terms of temperature and rainfall during vegetative and reproductive stages. Durum wheat showed a marked higher mean productivity under MT than under NT (4.5 vs 3.2 t/ha); spring temperature, however, negatively influenced this yield gap. The regression analysis with the environmental index allowed to identify two genotypes best adapted (intercept > 0 and slope > 1) to no tillage across the experimental conditions, with no yield loss compared to minimum tillage. The environmental adaptability of durum wheat under reduced tillage did not appear to be associated to grain protein deviation. Implications Global warming, especially during April and May, might contribute to reduce the yield gap existing between NT and MT for durum wheat cultivation. While the genotypic effect was lower than management and environmental effects, the best genotypes emerged from the study might be considered for future breeding programmes for durum wheat adaptation to conservation agriculture management under climate change.