Mutanda M. auteur aut IRD Shimelis H. auteur aut IRD Chaplot Vincent auteur aut IRD Madala N. E. auteur aut IRD Figlan S. auteur aut IRD text journalArticle eng text/pdf reformatted digital access Multiple trait selection guides the deployment of wheat varieties with high grain yield (GY) and water-use efficiency (WUE). The study aimed to determine the degree and trend of association between agronomic traits and major metabolites to identify influential traits and metabolites optimised by wheat genotypes for improved GY, WUE and drought tolerance. One hundred wheat genotypes were evaluated under drought-stressed (DS) and non-stressed (NS) using a 5 x 20 alpha-lattice design with two replications. The recorded agronomic traits included GY, shoot biomass (SB), root biomass (RB) and plant biomass (PB). The WUE in relation to GY (WUEgy) was computed based on GY produced under DS and NS. The grain of 10 wheat genotypes with high GY under DS were assayed for their metabolic responses to DS. The WUEgy showed significant correlations with PB, RB and SB under DS and NS conditions. Citric acid was strongly correlated with GY and WUEgy than other metabolites under DS. The SB had high positive direct effects on GY under both treatments, while PB had high and positive direct effects on WUEgy under DS. Therefore, selection based on SB, PB and citric acid is effective when selecting wheat ideotypes for drought tolerance and WUE. specialized Citric acid drought stress grain yield shoot biomass water use efficiency 076 75 1 2454389 [20 ] 2025 0906-4710 https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:010092683 10.1080/09064710.2025.2454389 0906-4710 [F B010092683] https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:010092683 https://horizon.documentation.ird.fr/exl-doc/pleins_textes/2025-03/010092683.pdf IRD - Base Horizon / Pleins textes 2025-03-12 2025-11-04 fdi:010092683 fre