© 2018 PP House Bread Wheat Germplasm Evaluaton for Soil Moisture Stress Tolerance under Rainfed Conditon Arvind Kumar 1* , P. C. Sharma 1 , R. Singh 1 and J. Kumari 2 1 ICAR-Central Soil Salinity Research Insttute, Karnal, Haryana (132 001), India 2 ICAR-Natonal Bureau of Plant Genetc Resources, Pusa Campus, New Delhi (110 012), India A preliminary yield trial was conducted with 1358 bread wheat germplasm including four natonal checks (C-306, KRL 210, HD 2967 and Kharchia, 65) for identfying moisture stress tolerant genotypes. The experiment was conducted at experimental farm, Central Soil Salinity Research Insttute, Karnal under rainfed conditons during 2015-16 cropping season. The new germplasm were compared against four standard varietes using an augmented design with ffeen blocks. Evaluaton of germplasm accessions revealed considerable variaton among grain yield (g ) -m , efectve tllers per meter and days to 50% heading traits studied. The adjusted grain yield of sixty two germplasm (38 accessions of NBPGR and 24 salt tolerant lines of CSSRI) were out yield the best check (C-306). However seventeen genotypes, namely, EC463441, EC534443, EC609338, IC543290, IC321905, IC535493, IC547643, KRS-611, KRL-112, KRL-105, KRL-136, KRL-119, KRS-621, KRL2- 10, KRL-340, KRL-90 and KRL-35 were found most desirable for yield potental. These germplasm can be considered as an important source of genes for earliness, higher grain yield and for improving number of efectve tllers in wheat improvement programme for drought tolerance. Non-signifcant diferences for grain yield between the salt tolerant (KRL 210 and Kharchia 65) and drought tolerant (C-306) checks shows co-existence of salt and water stress tolerance in KRL 210 and Kharchia 65, although both the cultvars were developed for salt prone area, it is, as such, they are likely ft for cultvaton under conditons with low soil moisture. 1. Introducton Wheat is the most widely grown cereal crop, as it is a staple food for about 40% of the world populaton (Malik et al., 2015). It is exposed to numerous edaphic stressors i. e. biotc and abiotc (Water scarcity, high temperature, problematc soils and freezing etc.) during the cropping season. Although, among all abiotc stresses, moisture stress is the single most important stress leading to maximum reduction in crop productvity (Kang et al., 2009). Irregular and unpredictable rainfall caused by climate change is likely to further aggravate water stress leading to a decline in productvity of all cereals including wheat in many areas around the world (Collins et al., 2008, Reynolds and Ortz, 2010). In most of the irrigated regions of the India, receding water tables (Rodell et al., 2009), non-availability of irrigation water, irregular and unpredictable rainfall leads also soil moisture stress from mild to severity (drought) and ultmately afect the productvity of the wheat crop. The North-Western plains (wheat bowl of India) are too seriously challenged by the twin threat of heat and drought. On the other hand nearly 2.5 mha area of wheat in central India is grown under residual moisture regimes and sufers from stress of drought, heat and salinity (Anonymous, 2015). Approximately 20% of the area of wheat under cultvaton is under rainfed environment (Reynolds et al., 1999). Even under irrigated conditions, 66% area of wheat receives only 1-2 irrigatons (Joshi et al., 2007) subjectng to the crop to moisture stress and resultng in reduced grain yield. Further depleton of underground water and limited rainfall exacerbate the scarcity of water due to climate change in near future has been predicted. Severe soil moisture stress during anthesis could decrease the grain yield of wheat crop up to 50% by reducing the number of grains (Joshi et al., 2007). Soil moisture stress is managed by drought avoidance or dehydraton tolerance (Kramer and Boyer, 1995). Drought avoidance includes root depth of the plant, maximum use of available water by plant, however dehydraton tolerance include the capability of the plant to partally dehydrate and grow again when moisture received through rainfall. In the rain-fed environments of developing countries, natonal average yields of wheat difer from 0.8 to 1.5 t ha -1 (Morris et al., 1991). The reacton of plants to water stress is important from two stand-points, survival and productvity. While survival is important for natve vegetaton, productvity or grain yield is the major concern for most crop Wheat, soil moisture stress and germplasm Keywords: Abstract Article History Artcle ID: AR1926a Received in 01 st November, 2018 Received in revised form 19 th December, 2018 Accepted in fnal form 31 st December, 2018 Arvind Kumar e-mail: arvind.kumar2@icar.gov.in Corresponding Author Stress Management Research Article 754 International Journal of Bio-resource and Stress Management 2018, 9(6):754-761 Doi: HTTPS://DOI.ORG/10.23910/IJBSM/2018.9.6.1926a