Morpho-biological traits and lodging resistance indices of 40

The evaluation of morpho-biological traits revealed a significant correlation between plant architecture and lodging susceptibility across the 40 genotypes (Table 2). Plant height (PH) showed a wide range, from 73.2 cm to 131.4 cm, with a clear trend: taller genotypes, particularly the Aegilops-derived hybrids (e.g., lines 31-40), exhibited significantly higher lodging percentages (LP 7–9). Crucially, the Height Adjusted Lodging Index (HALI) and Stem Diameter Adjusted Lodging Index (SD-ALI) provided a more precise understanding of structural stability. Resistant cultivars such as Vexa, Vassa, and Farovon maintained an LP of 1, characterized by negative ALI values (e.g., Vassa SD2ALI = -2.054), indicating that their stem diameters are robust enough to compensate for their height. Conversely, the high positive ALI values in the Ukr-Od hybrid series (reaching 6.310 for SD1ALI) highlight a mechanical imbalance where the stem diameter and internode strength fail to support the overall plant stature, leading to severe lodging.