J. Agronomy & Crop Science 176, 15—21 (1996) © 1996 Blackwell Wissenschafts - Verlag, Berlin ISSN 0931-2250 htituto Sperimentale per la Cerealkokura, Sezione di Foggia, S.S. 16 km 67i-71W0-Foggia, Italy Performance of Selected Strains of Tarro' (Triticum monococcum L., Triticum dicoccum Schiibler, Triticum Spelta L.) and Durum Wheat {Triticum Durum Desf. cv. Trinakria) in the Difficult Flat Environment of Southern Italy P. CODIANNI, G. RONGA, N. DI FONZO and A. TROCCOLI Authors' address: Dr A. TROCCOLI, P. CODIANNI, Dr. G. RoNGA, Dr N. Dl FoNZO, Istituto Sperimentale per la Cerealicoltura, Sezione di Foggia, S.S. 16 km 675-71100-Foggia, Italy ^ith 3 figures and 2 tables Received April 29, 1995; accepted July 8, 1995 Abstract The aim of this study was to evaluate the performance of three species of unhulled-wheat {Triticum monococcum L., Triticum dicoccum Schubler and Tnticum spelta L.) with respect to durum wheat {Triticum durum Desf. cv. Trinakria) in southern Italy's flat environment. Asjar as yield is concerned, the mean yield was significantly different among species. Durum wheat yielded 16.1 %, 37.6% and 69.5 % more than dicoccum, spelta and monococcum species, respectively. Among unhulled-wheat species, only Triticum dicoccum showed some similarity with durum wheat, such as one-thousand kernels weight, plant height and number of spikes per m^ Among the factors studied, the days to reach heading represented the factor that mostly influenced yield Key words: Triticum durum L., Triticum monococcum L., Triticum dicoccum Schubler, Triticum spelta L., 'farro'. Introduction species, the T. monococcum was rarely culti- .^ • • r . • • vated. An accurate evaluation of the surface Tnticum monococcum L. (D.ploid, 2n = 14), cultivated to unhuUed-wheats is not easily avail- T_ dicoccnm Schubler (Tetraploid, 2n = 28) and able, however, the latest ISMEA data (1988) if n J L. (Hexaploid, 2n = 42) identify old indicated 3550 hectares of cultivated surface, of unhulled-wheat spec.es. ^hich 1000 was destined for human feeding. In Italy these species, in the above order. The range mean of unhulled-grain yields can have been classified as 'small farro', 'farro' and depend on the cultivation environment: lower 'large farro'or'spelta'to avoid the confusion than It ha"' and more than 3.5 t ha"' in a of local names (PERRINO 1982). Some fields mountainous area and in a flat area, respect- cultivated to 'small farro' and 'farro' were found ively; after husking the range of net-grain yield in southern Italy, in a mountainous area of the is between 40 % and 60 % of the unhuUed- Appennino Sannita at about 700 m asl. Other grain weight (D'ANTUONO 1989, TALLARICO small cultivation areas have also been dis- 1990). covered in Toscana, Lazio, Marche, Umbria, As far as the performance of these unhulled- Mohse (PERRINO et al. 1981, 1982; PERRINO wheats under different management systems and HAMMER 1982, 1984). Among these is concerned, limited information is available s. Copyright Cloranct Centtr Code Sutcmem: 0 9 3 1 - 2 2 5 0 / 9 6 / 7 6 0 1 - 0 0 1 5 $ ! 1.50/0