Adaptability of Wheat in Malaysia
Wheat is a cool season crop, but its flourishes in many different agro-climatic zones and have the broadest adaptability compare to all other crops in the world. Recent advances in technologies for wheat production in humid tropical environments have promoted Malaysia to initiate research to deve...
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| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English English |
| Published: |
1999
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://psasir.upm.edu.my/id/eprint/10433/1/FP_1999_11_A.pdf |
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| Summary: | Wheat is a cool season crop, but its flourishes in many different agro-climatic
zones and have the broadest adaptability compare to all other crops in the world. Recent
advances in technologies for wheat production in humid tropical environments have
promoted Malaysia to initiate research to develop technologies for domestic wheat
production. This program places special emphasis on the identification of superior germplasm for further research in tropical Malaysia.
A discoursing situation was observed during the 1st experiment (Benchmark
study). Two hundred eighty eight germplasm accessions were used in this study and the
results revealed that all germplasm accessions were affected with seedling blight, severe
Helminthosporium leaf blotch and partially Fusarium head scab. All germplasms
germinate well, but gradually more than 50% died within six weeks. Less tiller, short
spike length, shriveled grain and high sterility were common constraints for good yield. A total of 288 germplasms were evaluated in first experiment and based on
different characters 175 germplasms were selected and 34 of them produced grain. The
scene was dramatically changed in the second experiment (2A), where 175 germplasm
accessions were grown in 30 cm x 30 cm size polybag with four replications and a
prescribed soil mixture of top soil. sand and peat soil with a ratio of 3:2:1 was used.
Vegetative growth of all genotypes was normal with optimum number of tillers up to 11
and spike length up to 9 cm. A total of 40 genotypes produced grain in this study.
Visual grain quality also improved compared with benchmark study. In the subsequent
3rd experiment (2B), again 175 germplasm accessions were used with same
management practices to study further development of genotypes in different growing
season time and comparison with the previous growing seasons. The same 40 genotypes
only produced grain but the sterility level had changed in some genotypes. Results from
1st and 2nd growing seasons revealed that the agronomic characters were significantly
influenced by different genotypes and a positive correlation confirmed that some
quantitative characters like fertile tillers, grain per spike and 1000 grain weight are
important characters having direct bearing on influencing plant yield. Forty germplasms
which produced grain were selected and used in the final experiment. Helmmthosponum
leaf blotch infestation was observed with a Disease index (01) range of I - 9. Seven
genotypes were found with minimum infestation (01 -I). Six genotypes produced almost
normal shiny grain but lower 1000 grain weight compared with original grain. However,
based on yield contributing characters and grain quality, entries 13, 28, 31, 45, 58, 72,
and 73 were identified as outstanding among the 175 genotypes. These lines seems to be
more potential for further research in Malaysia and by introducing wheat as a new crop
in Malaysia, it may eliminate an important part of the foreign exchange drain. |
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