Yield performance and adaptation of some Australian and CIMMYT/ICARDA developed wheat genotypes in the West Asia North Africa (WANA) region

Abstract

A set of 29 advanced breeding lines and named cultivars from different breeding programs in Australia was compared with 18 genotypes developed by the CIMMYT/ICARDA breeding programs for their adaptation and yield performance using 5 locations in the WANA region for 2 years. Classification analysis identified 13 CIMMYT/ICARDA genotypes that had a pattern in yield performance similar to 2 Australian cultivars, Leichhardt and Hartog. The classification of environments effectively identified trials that experienced heat stress and received supplementary irrigation. Most of the genotypes developed by the CIMMYT/ICARDA breeding programs showed wide adaptation in the WANA region. Genotypes developed for Australian Mediterranean environments failed to show wide adaptation in the WANA region. However, many Australian genotypes showed specific adaptation to heat-stressed environments. Variation among Australian genotypes for disease resistance and heat tolerance couldbe used for wheat improvement in the WANA region.