The performance of six high yielding wheat ( Triticum aestivum L.) and two barley ( Hordeum vulgare) cultivars was studied under moisture stress. The experiment was undertaken at the Agricultural Research Farm of Agricultural University Peshawar, during winter 2003-04 on six wheat cultivars: BARS-II, Saleem-2000, Haider-2000, Kohat-2002, Suleman-96 and Takbeer and two barley cultivars: Sorab-96 and Awaran-2002. Sorab-96 produced the highest (296 m -2) number of tillers while Haider-2000 and BARS-II each produced the lowest (185 m -2) number of tillers. Plant height ranged between 77 (Sorab-96) to 117 cm (Sulaman-96). Takbeer produced the highest (73) number of grains spike -1 in comparison with Awaran-2002 which produced only 45 grains spike -1. The 1000-seed weight was highest (43.13 g) in Awaran-2002 and lowest in Kohat-2002 (23.21 g/1000-seeds). Saleem-2000 produced the highest grain yield (3875 kg ha -1) as well as biological yield (8833 kg ha -1). Both barely cultivars performed better, though Awaran-2002 displayed slightly superior results than Sorab-96. The harvest-index was maximum (53.7%) for Kohat-2002 and lowest for Sorab-96 (20.9%). The average grain yield of six wheat cultivars was higher than the average grain yield of the two barley cultivars. In this investigation, wheat cultivars: Saleem-2000, Haider-2000 and Kohat-2002, produced higher (3875, 3525, 3225 kg ha -1) grain yields, respectively and are therefore, recommended for cultivation in dryland areas.
