Study on phenotypic and genotypic variation and the effect of complementary irrigation on yield and yield components of Flixweld (Descurainia sophia L.) populations

To study the phenotypic and genotypic variation of Iranian flixweld (Descurainia sophia L.) populations and the effect of complementary irrigation on their yield and yield components, an experiment was conducted as a split-plot in a randomized complete block design with three replications in the research farm of Islamic Azad University, Naragh Branch, during 2017-2018 growing season. Irrigation at two levels of rainfed cultivation and cultivation with one complementary irrigation was considered as the main plot and flixweld populations at eight levels of Hamedan, Esfahan, Chadegan in Esfahan, Markazi, Abuzeid Abad in Kashan, Bashrouye, Nakhjiravan, and Khomein as sub-plots. The results showed that grain yield, biological yield, the number of siliqua, the number of grains per silique, 1000-grain weight, and the number of sub-stems increased by complementary irrigation. There was a high variation among flixweld populations in terms of different traits. The highest grain yield under complementary irrigation and rainfed conditions was observed in Chadegan and Khomein populations with 499.1 and 359.1 kg ha-1, respectively. Cluster analysis divided flixweld populations into four groups under rainfed conditions. Populations Hamedan, Esfahan, Boshrouyeh, and Khomein were placed in the first group, Nakhjiravan in the second group, Markazi and Abuzeid Abad in the third group, and Chadegan in the fourth one. The highest broad-sense heritability (68.4%) was obtained for grain yield and number of siliqua traits.