Dimitrios Vlachostergios1, Christos Noulas1, Anastasia Kargiotidou1, Dimitrios Baxevanos2, Evangelia Tigka2, Chrysanthi Pankou3, Stavroula Kostoula4, Dimitrios Beslemes5, Maria Irakli6, Miltiadis Tziouvalekas1, Anastasios Lithourgidis7, Ioannis Tokatlidis8, Christos Dordas9, Athanasios Mavromatis4 and Ruijun Qin10, (1)Soil and Water Resources Department, Institute of Industrial and Forage Crops, Hellenic Agricultural Organization— DIMITRA, Larissa, Greece, (2)Hellenic Agricultural Organization "Demeter", Institute of Industrial & Forage Crops, Larissa, Greece, (3)Department of Agricultural Development, Democritus University of Thrace, Orestiada, Greece, (4)Laboratory of Genetics & Plant Breeding, Faculty of Agriculture, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece, (5)ALFA SEEDS SA, Larissa, Greece, (6)Institute of Plant Breeding and Genetic Resources, Hellenic Agricultural Organization—DEMETER, Thermi, Greece, (7)Farm of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece, (8)Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Democritus University of Thrace, Alexandroupolis, Greece, (9)Laboratory of Agronomy, School of Agriculture, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece, (10)Oregon State University, Hermiston, OR, US
Abstract Text:
Lentil is a versatile and profitable pulse crop with high nutritional food and feed values. The objectives of the study were to determine suitable locations for high yield and quality in terms of production and/or breeding, and to identify promising genotypes. For this reason, five lentil genotypes were evaluated in a multi-location network consisting of ten diverse sites for two consecutive growing seasons, for seed yield (SY), other agronomic traits, crude protein (CP), cooking time (CT) and crude protein yield (CPY). A significant diversification and specialization of the locations was identified with regards to SY, CP, CT and CPY. Different locations showed optimal values for each trait. Locations E4 (Patriki, Central Macedonia, Northern Greece) and E3 (Orestiada, Region of Thrace, Northeastern Greece), followed by E10 (Petrana, West Macedonia, Northern Greece), were “ideal” for SY. Locations E1 (Domokos, Region of Sterea, Central-South Greece), E3 and E7 (Agioi Anargiroi, Region of Thessaly, Central Greece) were ideal for high CP; and the “ideal” locations for CT were E3 and E5 (Anatoliko, Central Macedonia, Northern Greece) followed by E2 (Ypato, Region of Sterea, Central-South Greece). Therefore, the scope of the cultivation determined the optimum locations for lentil cultivation. The GGE-biplot analysis revealed different discriminating abilities and representativeness among the locations for the identification of the most productive and stable genotypes. Location E3 was recognized as being optimal for lentil breeding, as it was the “ideal” or close to “ideal” for the selection of superior genotypes for SY, CP, CT and CPY. Adaptable genotypes (cvσ. Dimitra, Samos) showed a high SY along with excellent values for CP, CT and CPY, and are suggested either for cultivation in many regions or to be exploited in breeding programs.
