Performance of exotic summer wheat (Triticum aestivum) varieties under wetland conditions

Abstract

Wheat is the second most important staple food crop in Zimbabwe after maize. However, because of lack of irrigation infrastructure and high cost of production the country is not meeting national demand and is relying on imports thereby losing a lot of foreign currency. Currently winter irrigated wheat production constitutes more than 90% of the local production. The country’s water reserves are also drying up due to low rainfall being received, meaning we cannot increase irrigated area. There is therefore need to explore other ways of increasing wheat production in the country that do not rely on irrigation. Summer wheat had been hindered by lack of suitable varieties with only one commercial variety SC Sahai on the market. With current short rainfall seasons being experienced there is a need to evaluate the performance of the summer wheat varieties under wetlands were they benefit from residual moisture. Agronomic and quality attributes of four summer wheat varieties developed by CIMMYT and are currently cultivated in Ethiopia plus one local check were evaluated under wetlands conditions in Mvuma district of Zimbabwe. The field experiment laid out in a RCBD replicated four times. Wheat varieties were evaluated for yield and its components, growth, quality and disease resistance. Exotic varieties performed significantly better (p < 0.05) than Sahai the local variety. Aguilal gave significantly (p < 0.05) the highest yield and test density and also had a high number of spikelets. The experiment showed that summer wheat can be grown successfully on wetlands giving better yield and quality and can be used to compliment winter wheat stocks.