Impact of cropping systems and year on yield and grain quality of triticale grown in a semi-arid region

ABSTRACT The demand for triticale is increasing due to its good production potential, tolerance to abiotic stress, and nutritional value. One of the most important strategies for increasing the yield and quality of triticale grains is the choice of the most suitable cultivars for various management and environmental conditions. This study was conducted in a semi-arid area of Romania (Oltenia Plain) with eight Romanian triticale cultivars over three growing seasons, following two cropping systems (conventional and organic). It was observed that the response of the triticale crop was strongly influenced by the crop management, with a decrease of -52.4% in yield, -17.2% in thousand-grain weight, -26.7% in protein content and -10.8% in test weight for the organic system. On average, for conventional system, Zvelt (8.25 t·ha-1) followed by Zori (7.73 t·ha-1) and Pisc (7.61 t·ha-1) obtained the highest yields. In organic system, Zori (3.87 t•ha-1) and Zvelt (3.75 t·ha-1) obtained the highest yields, but statistically insignificant compared to the other cultivars. Good grain quality in conventional system was shown by Tulnic, which obtained the highest protein content (16.1%) and the highest test weight (73.1 kg·hl-1), and in organic system by Zvelt which obtained a high protein content (11.3%) and the highest test weight (64.8 kg·hl-1).The 2022/2023 growing season had high temperatures during grain-filling period, favoring a higher protein content.