Assessment of Hectolitre Weight Variability in Wheat Genotypes under the Non-irrigated Crop Condition

Abstract

The study evaluated the biological capacity of 25 wheat genotypes to express hectolitre weight (HW, kg hL^-1) under non-irrigated field conditions at ARDS Lovrin, Romania, during the 2023-2024 agricultural year. Wheat genotypes were noted wg-5026 to wg-5050 (wg – wheat genotype). The crop was grown on a flat land, chernozem soil, and climatic conditions recorded at the SCDA Lovrin meteorological station. The mean HW of the experiment was 42.34 kg hL^-1, with values ranging from 30.30 42.34 kg hL^-1 (wg-5045)  to 52.00 kg hL^-1 (wg-5028). Genotypes wg-5028, wg-5027, wg-5049, wg-5050, wg-5026 and wg-5043 showed the best performance, exceeding the experimental mean by more than 5.0 kg hL^-1 for the first six ranked entries. Cluster analysis using Ward linkage separated the material into four similarity groups. The agricultural year was warmer than the multiannual reference by 3.73 °C, and drier by 104.0 mm, suggesting that HW expression occurred under combined thermal and water-limitation pressure. The results indicate useful phenotypic differentiation among the tested genotypes and identify promising material for further comparative trials with replicated experimental designs, and for wheat breeding program