Determination of the preharvest sprouting resistance of South African winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) cultivars

Preharvest sprouting significantly reduces the quality of the South African wheat crop. This study classified the preharvest sprouting resistance of 17 South African winter wheat cultivars sampled over a range of typical winter wheat growth environments. Sampling was performed under field conditions and sprouting responses were evaluated under controlled conditions. Variation in sprouting response between cultivars was predominantly genetically determined and varied from 1.7 to 7.4 on a scale from 1 (no visual sprouting) to 8 (fully sprouted). Canonical variate analysis and AMMI analysis, as well as the use of hierarchical clustering of cultivars over environments using the AMMI estimates, identified four distinct groups ranging from resistant to susceptible. The AMMI model was used as it combines the additive main effects of the analysis of variance with the interaction effects of principal components analysis. In general, Betta, and certain cultivars derived from Betta, showed good to moderate resistance to preharvest sprouting, while the hybrids Caritha and Carol, as well as the purelines Tugela and Tugela-DN, tended to be highly susceptible to sprouting.