Homa, A New Bread Wheat Cultivar for Cold dryland Areas of Iran

To evaluate the genetic diversity in Sardari bread wheat landrace, purification and selection of lines with good agronomic traits, were carried out for ten cropping seasons (1995-2006) in Maragheh and six other dryland Agricultural Research Stations. One hundred and six individual spikes were selected among Sardari landrace in the first phase of study (1995- 2000). Results of morph-physiological characteristics and molecular studies (SSR) confirmed a high diversity within Sardari landrace. In the second phase of study (2003- 2006) adaptability and grain yield stability of selected pure lines were studied in five locations. Based on the results, the pure line Sar-HR 39 exhabited a good performance and yield stability. Similar to check cultivars (normal Sardari and Azar 2), SAR-HR 39 is early maturity, is high 1000 kernel weight, suitable plant height and tolerance to winter cold (winter type). It is also tolerant to drought. The mean protein contents of this line has 10.5% but it is susceptible to yellow rust. The mean grain yield of the new line was 2185 kgha-1, that was higher than those of Azar 2 (2050 kgha-1) and normal Sardari (2070 kgha-1). The new line was officially released in 2010 through the Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization (AREEO), under the name of Homa.