The effect of planting methods on yield and yield components of irrigated spring durum wheat varieties.

A field experiment was carried out during three consecutive years: 2004 - 2005, 2005 - 2006 and 2006 - 2007 in South-eastern Anatolian, Turkey. The objective of the study was to compare planting methods and varieties of spring durum wheat (Triticum turgidum var. durum Desf.) for grain yield, yield components, some grain qualities and black point disease. An experiment was conducted as a randomized complete block design with four replications using a split plot treatment arrangement. The result revealed that planting methods had significant effect on yield and yield contributing characters except harvest index, vitreousness, protein content and black point disease. Interactions between planting methods and varieties were also significant for most yield components. Although the mean grain yield (6.29 t ha-1) in flat planting method was 4% higher than bed planting method (6.04 t ha-1), the SarA±canak-98 produced the highest grain yield (6.77 t ha-1) with bed planting method. However, AydA±n-93 produced the lowest (4.97 and 5.26 t ha-1) with bed and flat planting, respectively. All the yield components were significantly influenced by cultivars. Among the varieties, SarA±canak-98 was the best performer in bed planting system owing to desired yield components. Also, an appropriate genotype for bed planting should have broad leaf area and ground cover due to protection the evaporation from soil in South-eastern Anatolia irrigated area. Percentage of black point disease was much less severe in wheat plants grown on bed planting than in those on flat beds. Furthermore, bed planting decreased black point disease by more than 19%. It may be concluded that bed planting method is suitable for wheat in irrigated area when appropriate genotypes are used.   Key words: Bed planting, black point disease, durum wheat, chlorophyll content, quality traits, yield, yield components.