Identification of Sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) Genotypes Tolerant to Water Stres

The present research was carried out to determine water-stress tolerance of linoleic sunflower genotypes (P64LE119, PR63F73, P64LL62) grown under different water stress conditions [no water-stress (I100); mild water-stress (I70); strong water-stress (I35)] in the years 2015 and 2016. Variance analyses revealed significant differences between the genotypes (P<0.01). As the average of two years, the greatest yield was obtained from no water-stress x genotype interaction (I100xP64LE119) with 4094.66 kg ha-1, the lowest yield was obtained from strong water stress x genotype interaction (I35xPR63F73) with 2487.81 kg ha-1. Again as the average of two years, the greatest chlorophyll content was obtained from no water-stress x genotype interaction (I100xP64LE119) with 49.83 spad, the lowest value was obtained from strong water stress x genotype interaction (I35xPR63F73) with 34.39 spad. The greatest crop water stress index was obtained from strong water stress x genotype interaction (I35xPR63F73) with 0.53, the lowest value was obtained from no water-stress x genotype interaction (I100xP64LE119) with 0.21. The P64LE119 genotype with optimum water use efficiency and prominent with crop water stress index and chlorophyll content both in no water-stress and strong water stress treatments was identified as water stress-resistant and the genotype was considered to have reliable characteristics potentially to be used in further water stress-resistance studies.