Evaluation of drought tolerance indices among some winter rapeseed cultivars

The main purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of drought stress on seed yield of some winter rapeseed cultivars and to study relevant drought tolerance indices, along with identifying resistant cultivars to drought stress. Plant materials were sown in split plot arrangement based on a randomized complete blocks design, at Islamic Azad University of Tabriz research field. Three drought stress levels which include 80, 130, and 180 mm water evaporation from class A pan were considered as the main factor levels, while seven winter rapeseed cultivars which include Licord, Okapi, Opera, S.L.M.046, Zarfam, Modena, and Talaye were arranged to sub plots. Studied quantitative drought tolerance indices were, tolerance index (TOL), mean productivity (MP), stress susceptibility index (SSI), stress tolerance index (STI), geometric mean productivity (GMP), yield index (YI), yield stability index (YSI), and percentage of yield reduction (%Reduction). The yield stability analysis of the studied cultivars was done by GGE biplot method. According to the results derived from principal component analysis and regarding evaluation of correlation coefficients among indices, STI and GMP were selected as the two superior indices for identifying drought resistant cultivars. Three dimensional scatter plots based on STI and GMP indices showed that Licord and Talaye were the most suitable cultivars, and were situated in group, A. In addition, Modena and Zarfam were identified as sensitive and resistant to drought stress, respectively.Key words: Brassica napus L, principal component analysis, drought stress, drought tolerance indices, stability analysis (GGE biplot), 3D scatter plot.