FLAG LEAF SENESCENCE, CHLOROPHYLL CONTENT AND ITS RELATIONSHIPS WITH YIELD COMPONENTS UNDER DROUGHT IN DURUM WHEAT ( TRITICUM DURUM DESF)

Drought is a major abiotic stress that severely aff ects food production worldwide. Agronomic and physiological traits associated with drought tolera nce are suitable indicators for selection of drough t tolerance genotypes to reduce the impact of water d eficit on crop yield in breeding program. The objective of this study was to identify indicators related to drought tolerance through analysis of Senescence (S) and Chlorophyll content (Chl) traits in durum wheat ( Triticum durum Dsef.).Senescence was assessed using numerical image analysis (NIA) and chlorophyll content is estimated by using of SPAD meter. A significant negative correlation is f ound between chlorophyll content and average senescence (r = -0.68). In addition, grain yield wa s significantly positively correlated to sums of temperatures corresponding to an S value of 50% (r = 0.63); This correlation suggests that the genotyp es with slow senescence showed the highest grain yield under drought and the difference between genotypes for chlorophyll content are related to dr ought tolerance.