IDENTIFICATION OF DROUGHT RESISTANT SUNFLOWER GENOTYPES (HELIANTHUS ANNUUS L.)

The present study was conducted under water stress (WS) and stress-free (SF) conditions in randomized blocks design with 3 replications in 2012 and 2013 to determine drought resistance of normal-oleic (Sanbro and Tunca), medium-oleic (Saray and 10TR054) and high-oleic (P64H34 and Oleko) sunflower genotypes. In stress-free treatments, drip irrigations were performed as to bring the soil moisture level to field capacity when 50% of available moisture in effective root depth was depleted. A total of four irrigations were performed in WS treatments, but irrigations were not performed in SF treatments (except for the initial survival water). The differences between the genotypes with regard to investigated parameters were found to be significant (p