Genotypic Variation of Drought Tolerance and Water Use Efficiency In Wheat Seedlings In the US Southern High Plains.

Drought is considered to be the main environmental factor limiting wheat productivity in the US southern high plains. The assessment of seedlings under drought conditions is necessary for the attainment of good crop stand and hence for better yield. The objectives of this study were to assess seeding performance of 20 wheat cultivars used in the US southern high plains under different irrigation treatments, and to screen drought tolerance cultivars. The results showed that the evapotranspiration (ET), biomass, water use efficiency (WUE), and root dry mass among irrigation treatment were 75% field capacity (FC) > 60%FC> 45%FC; TAM111, Dumas and TAMW101 had higher biomass and WUE at 75%FC, Endurance had higher biomass and WUE at drought (60%FC, 45%FC), while TAM113, BillBrown and Billings had higher biomass and WUE at the three irrigation treatments compared to other cultivars; the cultivars with higher biomass and WUE at drought also had higher root dry mass.