Extending the duration of the ear construction phase to increase grain yield of bread wheat
Tina Botwright Acuña A H , Richard Richards B , Debra Partington C , Angela Merry D , Brendan Christy E , Heping Zhang F , Garry O'Leary G and Penny Riffkin C
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture, University of Tasmania, Private Bag 54, Hobart, Tas. 7001, Australia.
B CSIRO Agriculture and Food, GPO Box 1700, Canberra, ACT 2601, Australia.
C Department of Economic Development, Jobs, Transport and Resources, PB105 Hamilton, Vic. 3300, Australia.
D Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture, University of Tasmania, Private Bag 46, Kings Meadows, Tas. 7249, Australia.
E Department of Economic Development, Jobs, Transport and Resources, 124 Chiltern Valley Road, Rutherglen, Vic. 3685, Australia.
F CSIRO Agriculture and Food, Private Bag 5, Wembley, WA 6913, Australia.
G Department of Economic Development, Jobs, Transport and Resources, PB260 Horsham, Vic. 3401, Australia.
H Corresponding author. Email: Tina.Acuna@utas.edu.au
Crop and Pasture Science 70(5) 428-436 https://doi.org/10.1071/CP19074
Submitted: 19 February 2019 Accepted: 28 March 2019 Published: 16 May 2019
Abstract
We tested the hypothesis that lengthening the duration between the terminal spikelet stage of development and anthesis (referred to here as the construction-phase duration, CPD) will increase yield per unit area in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). Field experiments were undertaken at 17 sites across the high-rainfall zone of south-eastern and Western Australia in 2014 and 2015. In total, 205 wheat genotypes were grown. Genetic material included a set of near-isogenic lines (NILs) varying in photoperiod and vernalisation alleles; commercial wheat cultivars and breeding lines; and lines selected from the Multiparent Advanced Generation Inter Cross population. As such, this is the only comprehensive dataset in which the effect of variation in CPD on grain yield in field plots has been evaluated in diverse field environments. Within an optimum anthesis window of 10 days, longer CPD significantly increased grain yield by >11% at two sites and tended to increase grain yield at another 11 sites (not statistically significant). The average yield increase across these sites was 5.5%. There was no consistent trend whereby a specific yield component was responsible for the increase across sites. We suggest that CPD can be extended by genetic selection and by sacrificing some of the vegetative period without any detriment to grain yield. We also found that CPD is increased by extending the duration from sowing to flowering through earlier sowing, which may be associated with increased yields in some environments. We conclude that, for the same anthesis date, a longer CPD may be beneficial in moderately favourable rainfed environments with a relatively even distribution of rainfall. We explore the basis of these relationships and implications for growers and plant breeders.
Additional keywords: anthesis, genotypic variation, phenology.
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