Agronomic performance of wild emmer wheat germplasm (Triticum turgidum ssp. dicoccoides) grown under irrigated and rainfed conditions

Background: The genetic variations present in wild emmer wheat (Triticum turgidum ssp. dicoccoides), are valuable for improving desirable traits in modern wheat. This research was conducted to evaluate the responses of 105 wild emmer wheat accessions under irrigated and rainfed conditions across two cropping seasons (2021-2022 and 2022-2023) in the field. The following traits were measured: plant height, spike length, number of grains per spike, thousand grain weight, peduncle length, length, days to heading, days to anthesis, days to physiological maturity, soil plant development, protein content, iron content, and zinc content. Results: The combined analysis of variance revealed that the effects of environment and accession type were significant (p <0.01) for all studied agronomic traits. The genotype × environment interaction was also significant (p <0.01) for plant height, number of grains per spike, peduncle length, awn length, days to heading, and days to physiological maturity. Cluster analysis divided the studied accessions into three distinct clusters, revealing that those accessions from different geographical origins were intermixed within each group. Correlation analysis revealed a positive and significant relationship between spike length and the number of grains per spike, as well as between grain iron content and zinc content across all four environments. Multiple scoring index analysis indicated that under irrigated conditions in both years, accessions 68 (DIC291) and 70 (DIC316) were the top performers, whereas under rainfed conditions, accession 56 (DIC256) ranked highest across both years. Accessions that yield well under rainfed conditions are considered highly valuable genetic resources, as they present favorable drought stress resilience traits that increase their adaptability to water-deficit environments. Conclusions: The results showed that the significant genetic diversity observed in wild emmer wheat germplasm under varying conditions highlights its potential for enhancing drought tolerance and improving key agronomic traits, thereby providing valuable resources for breeding programs aimed at increasing the resilience and nutritional quality of bread and durum wheat in water-limited environments.