YIELD AND RELATED TRAITS OF EINKORN (T-MONOCOCCUM SSP MONOCOCCUM) IN DIFFERENT ENVIRONMENTS

Triticum monococcum ssp. monococcum (einkorn), a widely cultivated cro p in the Neolithic age, is reconsidered in modern agriculture because of the rising demand for high quality, low input cereals. Yield and yi eld related traits of Triticum monococcum ssp. monococcum (einkorn) we re measured by growing twenty-one lines in Cologne (Germany), Milano, Ascoli Piceno and Foggia (Italy). The effects of six different seeding rates (ranging from 100 to 600 kernels m(-2)) and three different nit rogen levels (0, 80 and 120 kg ha(-1)) were tested at three Italian lo cations (Milano, Chieuti and Foggia). The gross grain yield (i.e., the yield of the grain with adhering glumes) was influenced by the enviro nment, with a maximum at Cologne (4.5 t ha(-1)) and a minimum at Foggi a (0.84 t ha(-1)). The three nitrogen levels did not influence grain y ield or plant height. These two traits and the heading time were signi ficantly affected by the seeding rate. The maximum gross grain yield w as obtained with a seeding rate of 300 kernels m(-2). With the excepti on of the total biomass and the number of spikes m(-2), all other yiel d related traits varied significantly among the einkorn lines. In the Southern environments the long life cycle of einkorn wheat appears to be a yield-limiting factor. The observed genetic differences for impor tant traits like earliness in this limited sample of einkorn lines, in dicate that breeding programs could generate lines being better adapte d to modern farming.