Impact of late sowing on morphological and yield traits in 40s bread wheat

The unpredictability and large fluctuation of the climatic conditions in rainfed regions influences spring wheat yield and grain quality. These variations offer the opportunity for the production of better quality wheat. The effect of late sowing on wheat morphology and grain yield was studied in different 40s bread wheat at the research farm of PBG, The University of Agriculture Peshawar, Pakistan during 2013-14. Forty wheat genotypes were tested under normal and late sowing in 5 × 8 alpha lattice design with three replicates. Combined analysis of variance exhibited significant genotype by environment interactions for days to heading, flag leaf area, days to maturity, plant height, spikes m-2, grains spike-1,1000-grain weight, biomass yield, grain yield and harvest index.  Days to emergence, headings, maturity ranged from 9 to 12, 111 to 121 and 155 to 164 days under normal while under late planting it ranged from 25 to 29, 95 to107 and 137 to 143 days. Mean data under normal planting ranged between 77 to 125cm; 25 to 41cm2; 99 to 199; 10 to 13 cm 32 to 49; 52 to 88g; 8533 to 13667 kg, 1869 to 4681 kg; 21 to 35% whereas under late planting its range was 63 to 91 cm, 18 to 37 cm2, 57 to 137, 8 to 12 cm, 22 to 52, 36 to 75g, 2400 to 7933 kg, 540 to 2739 kg and 20 to 42% for plant height, flag leaf area, spikes m-2, spike length, grains spike-1, 1000-grain weight, biomass, grain yield and harvest index, respectively. Wheat genotypes planted at late condition took maximum days to emergence, while less number of days were reacquired for wheat genotypes planted at normal sowing date to get mature. Late planting negatively affected all yield contributing traits like; spikes m-2 (29%), grains spike-1 (18%) 1000-grain weight (29 %), biomass (55%) and grain yield (50 %). On the basis of the current exploration, it is obtained that genotype SRN 19111 was identified superior for 1000-grain weight, biomass yield and grain yield under normal planting, while genotype PR-107 exhibited higher grain yield under late planting. Therefore, these genotypes are recommended for further extensive testing.