Differential Adaptation of Complete and Substituted Triticale

Adaptation of seven complete and twelve substituted triticales to specific soil types has been studied, based on a series of twenty trials carried out in 1989 and 1990 across Spain. The nature of the GE interaction for grain yield was revealed by means of the additive main effects multiplicative interaction (AMMI) model and using the soil pH at the different sites as linear covariate. The percentage of the variability explained by the first principal component axis of the AMMI model was 72 and 65 % for the two years, suggesting a specific pattern of adaptation. Soil pH was the single most important environmental factor to explain the adaptation of complete and substituted types. Complete triticales outyielded substituted genotypes in the majority of sites. Triticale adaptation to acid and alkaline soils seems to be largely controlled by the single wheat/rye chromosome 2D(2R) substitution, for which both types differ. Complete triticales seem better adapted to the acid soils, whereas substituted types are, in general, more suited to alkaline soils.