Evaluation of genetic diversity: a study on morphological and physiological traits of local and introduced durum wheat (Triticum durum Desf.) genotypes

Wheat is the most widely consumed staple food in the world and provides more nourishment for humans than any other food source. This study evaluated the genetic parameters of selected morphological and physiological traits using 77 durum wheat genotypes (8 local and 69 introduced). The research was conducted from 2022 to 2024 in the Field Laboratory of Grains and Legumes at Azerbaijan State Agrarian University. The wheat was cultivated in Ganja using a completely randomized design under winter wheat growing conditions. Phenological stages were recorded according to the Kuperman method, from emergence to full maturity. Morphological traits such as plant height (PH, cm) excluding awns, spike length (SL, cm), number of spikelets per spike (SNS), number of grains per spike (GNS), grain weight per spike (GWS), thousand kernel weight (TKW, g), and grain yield (GY, kg/m²) were measured. The longest SL was recorded as 12.10 cm in genotype GDP-647, and the shortest was 5.0 cm in genotype Ganja. Twenty-two genotypes showed superior SL performance compared to the check varieties. In the first year, Ganja-8 had 18 SNS, while in the second year it reached 25. The lowest SNS was 13 in genotype GDP-560. Ganja-1 had the highest GNS with 4.30, and GDP-682 had the lowest with 1.2. TKW ranged widely, from 55.30 g (GDP-669) to 31.30 g (GDP-457). The lowest spike density was found in GDP-597 (17.80), while the highest was 35.0 in Ganja-6 and Ganja-7. The study provided a comparative overview of phenological development in local and introduced genotypes, revealing a significant local adaptation effect in introduced genotypes. Among locals, Ganja-5 and Ganja-8 exhibited high phenological performance. Cluster analysis based on estimates grouped genotypes into four main clusters according to traits such as PH, SL, SNS, GNS, GWS, TKW, and spike density. Notably, local genotypes Ganja-5 and Ganja-8 demonstrated strong phenological development and adaptability, indicating their potential for breeding programs.