In the second experimental season (2020-21), the UFAS1 (Setif, PI: Dr. Amar Rouabhi), is engaged in conducting field trials in the Setif region under both conventional and, for the first time, also no-till soil management conditions. For the conventional regime, a large part (54) of the entries tested in the previous season (82) will be again trialled, including most of the cultivated durum wheat (DW) varieties (originating from the various partner countries) and DW-wild wheat relatives (WWRs) recombinant lines. Instead, amphidiploid lines will not be trialled again, as they posed growing (e.g. lateness) and harvesting problems. For both types of trials, a randomized block design with 3 replications is adopted as experimental design. Each entry is represented by a 1 x 1 m plot, consisting of 5 rows (20 cm row spacing), with 300 seeds/m2 sowing density (60 seeds/row). Owing to unfavorable weather conditions, sowing was carried out on December 20 (conventional trial) and December 30 (no-till trial), at the Setif University Experimental farm (N 36.197998, E 5.368010), and in a private farm located a few kilometers south of this location (N 36.151166, E 5.342604), respectively. Some pictures of the sowing operations are reported in the following:
