PERFORMANCE AND STABILITY OF GRAIN YIELD AND YIELD COMPONENTS IN SOME WINTER WHEAT VARIETIES

The premise to obtain high grain yield starts with the right choice of cultivars, especially when it comes to winter wheat. Using winter wheat genotypes inappropriate to local conditions can cause significant reduction of average grain yield, as a result of poor yield stability. The objective of this study was to test the performance of 25 winter wheat varieties and assess their yield stability in Central Transylvania, one specific wheat growing area of Romania. Yield and yield stability, and also the stability of some components of yield in six environmental conditions (three years x two fertilization levels) were analysed. Shares of genotype, environment and genotype x environment interaction in phenotypic expression of analysed characters indicated that yield and the main components are strongly influenced by environmental conditions. In comparison with older genotypes, the new lines (T. 67-02 and T. 96-97) and the Andrada variety had higher yield in contrasting environmental conditions.