The effect of arid conditions on productivity and elements of photosynthetic activity of winter soft wheat

Abstract

The current paper has presented the estimating results of the effect of vegetation conditions on a leaf area index, preservation of chlorophyll pigment and productivity of the winter common wheat samples developed by the ARC “Donskoy”. The study was conducted in the laboratory of plant physiology in 2017-2020. There has been used the following methodology: the leaf areas were determined by the Nichiporovich's method (1955), the leaf area index during the periods of ear formation and flowering was estimated according to S.A. Tarasenko (2015). The chlorophyll content in the leaves of winter wheat varieties was assessed by the Shmatko's method (1976). The study results have identified that the leaf area indices and the chlorophyll content in leaves during the vegetation period changed according to the drought resistance degree of plants and depended mainly on the root moisture supply and on the studied genotype. In the conditions of insufficient moisture supply the varieties Krasa Dona, Asket, Etyud and Volny Don formed the maximum values of a leaf area index and preservation of chlorophyll pigment.