Seeding density effects on grain yield in bread wheat

Abstract

Seeding rate is considered as one of the cultivation practices that most affect crop grain yield and its components. It is based on planting a predetermined number of live seeds per square metre to achieve a specific plant density optimal for overall health and vigor of the plants. In order to study influence of seeding density on tillering potential and yield performances of bread wheat, a set comprised of 80 elite wheat varieties and 16 breeding lines contrasting for tillering was sown at locality Rimski Sancevi, Novi Sad, Serbia in 2016-17 growing season. A trial was set at randomised block design with three replications for each seeding density (300 and 550 viable seeds per square metre) and size of each plot was five square metres. During the season and after harvest the following traits were recorded: number of tillers, stem height, spike length, grain yield and thousand-kernel weight (TKW). The genetic diversity and population structure of the 96 accessions were assessed by 60 microsatellite markers distributed across all three wheat genomes. The presence of marker-trait associations (MTA) was analysed using mixed linear model. A total of 496 alleles were detected, with average PIC value of 0.613.