Response of germination and seedling traits in different canola genotypes to soil moisture conditions using GGE biplot method

This experiment was conducted in a factorial arrangement in a completely randomized design with three replications. 24 canola genotypes (13 varieties and 11 double haploid lines) at four levels of soil moisture including 80, 50, 30 and 20% field capacity (FC) were evaluated in pots in the greenhouse of seed and plant improvement Institute in Karaj during 2017. The growth of the shoot was more affected by different levels of soil moisture in comparison to the root growth that indicating a greater sensitivity of the stem length compared to the root length in response to the low water stress. Therefore, the root-shoot ratio can be an appropriate index for assessing the water stress tolerance. The results showed that cultivars such as Oase, Triangle, Tassilo and Savanah, had very high stability under stress conditions, but due to small amounts of the first and second components, they were classified as susceptible to water deficit stress. Also, SLM046 and Billy had the least stability in traits under water deficit stress at germination stage. Due to the non-separation of the three levels of soil moisture (80%, 50% and 30% FC), were not suitable for selection and only 20% FC was identified as the appropriate condition for selecting the ideal genotype. Therefore, between genotypes that were located in a 20% FC, based on the 'which-won-where' pattern, GKH 2005 was identified as the superior genotype.