Impact of High Moisture Stress on Physio-morphological Characteristics and Yield Attributes of Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) Genotypes

Abstract

Excess soil moisture can restrict wheat growth by reducing oxygen availability in the root zone. A pot experiment was conducted during the 2025–26 Rabi season at the Student Instructional Farm, Acharya Narendra Deva University of Agriculture & Technology, Kumarganj, Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh, India, to evaluate six bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) genotypes under control (T₁) and high-moisture stress (T₂) conditions. The experiment followed a completely randomised design with three replications. High-moisture stress was imposed by maintaining the soil at saturation for 20 days immediately after sowing. Plant height, relative water content, and membrane thermal stability were assessed at 21 and 45 days after sowing and at physiological maturity; spike length, number of grains per spike, and grain yield per plant were measured at harvest. High-moisture stress reduced plant height and all measured yield attributes in every genotype, whereas relative water content and membrane thermal stability varied with genotype and growth stage. KRL-20 maintained the greatest plant height under stress at all assessment stages and recorded the highest relative water content at 45 days after sowing and physiological maturity. It also produced the longest spike (9.25 cm), the greatest number of grains per spike (61.20), and the highest grain yield (14.70 g plant⁻¹) under stress. HD-2967 and PBW-550 ranked next for grain yield. These results indicate useful genotypic variation, with KRL-20 showing the most consistent performance under the imposed high-moisture regime.