Triticum durum Desf / semi-aride / diagnostic / élaboration du rendement Summary — Diagnosis of durum wheat yield in agricultural fields under semi-arid conditions in Tunisia. In order to determine the main limiting factors of wheat production in a semi-arid area of Tunisia, growth, yield, and yield components of durum wheat were measured in agricultural fields over 2 years with contrasting rainfall. They were compared with controls established under experimental conditions and published in a previous paper. Dry matter production, yield, and yield component were highly variable among and within a climatic year. Yield was mainly related to grain number for both years; grain and ear number variability depend on growth before anthesis. Comparison with the controls allowed us to determine the main periods when limiting factors applied. Poor seedbed control, weed infestation, nitrogen supply, and water availability during the growing season, were all identified as main limiting factors. Some of these are related to constraints from the cropping systems.
(fig 2), for two years with contrasting rainfall. The relationships between yield components, observed in the wet year and for high levels of nitrogen supply had similar patterns compared with those established for wheat grown in temperate regions (table I). However, the values of fitted parameters (table III) were appreciably different. In "Tell" soil, the maximum levels of all yield components were reached during the wet year for nitrogen fertilization as low as 60 kg ha -1 , applied at tillering and beginning of the stem elongation; in "Hamri" soil, the maximum levels could not be reached, even for a total nitrogen amount of 100 kg ha -1 ; yield components had very low levels during the dry year in the two soils, with no appreciable effect of fertilization (
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