Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-ndmmz Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-30T11:01:17.899Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Rate of change in harvest index during grain-filling of wheat

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 March 2009

D. J. Moot ,
P. D. Jamieson ,
A. L. Henderson ,
M. A. Ford  and
J. R. Porter
D. J. Moot
Affiliation:
Department of Plant Science, PO Box 84, Lincoln University, Canterbury, New Zealand
P. D. Jamieson
Affiliation:
New Zealand Institute for Crop & Food Research Ltd, Private Bag 4704, Christ church, New Zealand
A. L. Henderson
Affiliation:
IACR-Long Ashton Research Station, Department of Agricultural Sciences, University of Bristol, Long Ashton, Bristol BS18 9AF, UK
M. A. Ford
Affiliation:
John fnnes Centre, Colney Lane, Norwich NR4 7UH, UK
J. R. Porter
Affiliation:
The Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University, Agrovej 10, 2630 Taastrup, Denmark
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

A constant rate of change in harvest index (dHI/dt = k) has recently been incorporated into several crop simulation models, so that final grain yield can be calculated from final biomass and the duration of grain growth. Implicit is the assumption that dHI/dt is conservative across treatments and environments. This assumption was tested using data from five experiments grown in the United Kingdom (1973, 1978, 1994) and New Zealand (1992, 1993). The experiments included commercial spring and winter wheat cultivars introduced during the last 100 years and nitrogen, irrigation, sowing date, temperature and CO2 treatments. In all cases, the time course of harvest index (HI) had an initial lag phase, a linear phase and a maturation phase. The linear phase was stable in field-grown crops, except for a reduction in slope after lodging in some crops. Values for dHI/dt, taken as the slope of the linear phase, varied with variety and available nitrogen, were stable for a given variety among years, and were unaffected by water stress. Variation in dHI/dt among varieties was independent of their year of introduction, although those with the Rht2 semi-dwarfing gene generally achieved a higher final HI due to a reduced lag phase. Differences in the duration of the linear phase also caused differences in the final HI after drought. The upper and lower limits of dHI/dt for fieldgrown crops were 1·37 and 0·64% d-1 but, under normal fertility conditions, the variation was between 0·90 and 1·19 % d-1. Results indicated that dHI/dt could provide an effective semi-empirical relationship for predicting grain yield in simulation models. The consistent, linear nature of this relationship suggests a physiological maximum for dHI/dt, for a given species and variety. It may be possible to exploit varietal differences in dHI/dt, and in the lag phase, for yield improvement.

Type
Crops and Soils
Information
The Journal of Agricultural Science , Volume 126 , Issue 4 , June 1996 , pp. 387 - 395
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1996

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Amir, J. & Sinclair, T. R. (1991). A model of the temperature and solar-radiation effects on spring wheat growth and yield. Field Crops Research 28, 47–58.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Austin, R. B., Ford, M. A., Edrich, J. A. & Hooper, B. E. (1976). Some effects of leaf posture on photosynthesis and yield in wheat. Annals of Applied Biology 83, 425–446.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Austin, R. B., Ford, M. A., Edrich, J. A. & Blackwell, R. D. (1977). The nitrogen economy of winter wheat. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 88, 159–167.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Austin, R. B., Bingham, J., Blackwell, R. D., Evans, L. T., Ford, M. A., Morgan, C. L. & Taylor, M. (1980). Genetic improvements in winter wheat yields since 1900 and associated physiological changes. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 94, 675–689.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Austin, R. B., Ford, M. A. & Morgan, C. L. (1989). Genetic improvement in the yield of winter wheat: a further evaluation. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 112, 295–301.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blum, A., Mayer, J. & Gozlan, G. (1982). Infrared thermal sensing of plant canopies as a screening technique for dehydration avoidance in wheat. Field Crops Research 5, 137–146.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gallagher, J. N. & Biscoe, P. V. (1978). Radiation absorption, growth and yield of cereals. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 91, 47–60.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gent, M. P. N. (1994). Photosynthate reserves during grain rilling in winter wheat. Agronomy Journal 86, 159–167.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gregory, P. J., Marshall, B. & Biscoe, P. V. (1981). Nutrient relations of winter wheat. 3. Nitrogen uptake, photosynthesis of flag leaves and translocation of nitrogen to grain. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 96, 539–547.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jamieson, P. D., Martin, R. J. & Francis, G. S. (1995). Drought influences on grain yield of barley, wheat and maize. New Zealand Journal of Crop and Horticultural Science 23, 55–66.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lawlor, D. W., Day, W., Johnston, A. E., Legg, B. J. & Parkinson, K. J. (1981). Growth of spring barley under drought: crop development, photosynthesis, dry-matter accumulation and nutrient content. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 96, 167–186.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Marshall, B. & Biscoe, PL. V. (1980). A model for C3 leaves describing the dependence of net photosynthesis on irradiance. I. Derivation. Journal of Experimental Botany 31, 29–39.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moot, D. J., Henderson, A. L., Porter, J. R. & Semenov, M. A. (1996). Temperature, CO2 and the growth and development of wheat: changes in the mean and variability of growing conditions. Climatic Change.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Muchow, R. C. (1988). Effect of nitrogen supply on the comparative productivity of maize and sorghum in a semiarid tropical environment. III. Grain yield and nitrogen accumulation. Field Crops Research 18, 31–43.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Muchow, R. C. (1990). Effect of high temperature on graingrowth in field-grown maize. Field Crops Research 23, 145–158.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Muchow, R. C., Sinclair, T. R. & Bennett, J. M. (1990). Temperature and solar radiation effects on potential maize yield across locations. Agronomy Journal 82, 338–343.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Payne, R. W., Lane, P. W., Ainsley, A. E., Bicknell, K. E., Digby, P. G. N., Harding, S. A., Leech, P. K., Simpson, H. R., Todd, A. D., Verrier, P. J., White, R. P., Gower, J. C., Tunnicliffe-Wllson, G. & Paterson, L. J. (1987). Genstat 5 Reference Manual. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Porter, J. R. (1993). AFRCWHEAT2: A model of the growth and development of wheat incorporating responses to water and nitrogen. European Journal of Agronomy 2, 69–82.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Porter, J. R., Jamieson, P. D. & Wilson, D. R. (1993). Comparison of the wheat simulation models AFRCWHEAT2, CERES-Wheat and SWHEAT for non-limiting conditions of crop growth. Field Crops Research 33, 131–157.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ritchie, J. T. & Otter, S. (1985). Description and performance of CERES-Wheat: a user-orientated wheat yield model. United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Services, ARS 38, 159–175.Google Scholar
Schnyder, H. (1993). The role of carbohydrate storage and redistribution in the source–sink relations of wheat and barley during grain filling – a review. New Phytologist 123, 233–245.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schnyder, H. & Baum, U. (1992). Growth of the grain of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). The relationship between water content and dry matter accumulation. European Journal of Agronomy 1, 51–57.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Seligman, N. G., Loomis, R. S., Burke, J. & Abshahi, A. (1983). Nitrogen nutrition and canopy temperature in field-grown spring wheat. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 101, 691–697.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sinclair, T. R. & De Wit, C. T. (1975). Photosynthate and nitrogen requirements for seed production by various crops. Science 189, 565–567.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Slafer, G. A. & Savin, R. (1994). Source-sink relationships and grain mass at different positions within the spike in wheat. Field Crops Research 37, 39–49.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Snedecor, G. W. & Cochran, W. G. (1980). Statistical Methods. Ames, Iowa, USA: Iowa State University Press.Google Scholar
Sofield, I., Evans, L. T., Cook, M. G. & Wardlaw, I. F. (1977). Factors influencing the rate and duration of grain filling in wheat. Australian Journal of Plant Physiology 4, 785–797.Google Scholar
Spaeth, S. C. & Sinclair, T. R. (1985). Linear increase in soybean harvest index during seed-filling. Agronomy Journal 77, 207–211.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Spiertz, J. H. J. & Vos, J. (1985). Grain growth of wheat and its limitation by carbohydrate and nitrogen supply. In Wheat Growth and Modelling (Eds Day, W. & Atkin, R. K.), pp. 129–141. London: Plenum.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Van Keulen, H. & Seligman, N. G. (1987). Simulation of Water Use, Nitrogen Nutrition and Growth of a Spring Wheat Crop. Wageningen: Pudoc.Google Scholar