A field experiment was carried out in Valenzano (Bari) to investigate the performances of two durum wheat cultivars (Vendetta and Pietrafitta) grown under combined effects of different sowing dates (December and February) and three water regimes (full irrigation, 50% deficit irrigation and rainfed). Both sowing practices resulted in very good yield although the winter wheat gave higher yield (5.42t/ha) and yield water productivity (WPy) (1.50kg/m3) than the spring wheat (4.20t/ha and 1.27kg/m3). RUE was greater for spring than for winter cultivation but no differences were observed between cultivars. A clear increase of average RUE was observed moving from rainfed to fully irrigated crops. Full irrigated wheat provided highest yield (6.13t/ha), but reduced the WPy (1.39kg/m3) with respect to deficit irrigated wheat (5.15t/ha and 1.50kg/m3).
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Precipitation (229 and 128mm for winter and spring cultivation, respectively) supports a reasonable yield for rainfed crop (3.16t/ha) which had the lowest WPy (1.29kg/m3). ‘Vendetta’ was more productive than ‘Pietrafitta’ (5.09 against 4.53t/ha). The CWSI changed significantly for different water regimes and appeared to be a good indicator of plant water stress.
