Wheat genotypic variability in grain yield and carbon isotope discrimination under Mediterranean conditions assessed by spectral reflectance

A collection of 368 advanced lines and cultivars of spring wheat（Triticum aestivum L.） from Chile, Uruguay, and CIMMYT（Centro Internacional de Mejoramiento de Maíz y Trigo）, with good agronomic characteristics were evaluated under the Mediterranean conditions of central Chile. Three different water regimes were assayed： severe water stress（SWS, rain fed）, mild water stress（MWS; one irrigation around booting）, and full irrigation（FI; four irrigations： at tillering,flag leaf appearance, heading, and middle grain filling）. Traits evaluated were grain yield（GY）, agronomical yield components,days from sowing to heading, carbon isotope discrimination（△^13C） in kernels, and canopy spectral reflectance. Correlation analyses were performed for 70 spectral reflectance indices（SRI） and the other traits evaluated in the three trials. GY and △^13C were the traits best correlated with SRI, particularly when these indices were measured during grain filling. However,only GY could be predicted using a single regression, with ResearchNormalized Difference Moisture Index（NDMI2： 2,200; 1,100）having the best fit to the data for the three trials. For △^13C, only individual regressions could be forecast under FI（r^2： 0.25–0.37）and MWS（r^2： 0.45–0.59） but not under SWS（r^2： 0.03–0.09）.NIR‐based SRI proved to be better predictors than those that combine visible and NIR wavelengths.