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Wheats developed for high yield on stored soil moisture have deep vigorous root systems
- Source :
- Functional plant biology : FPB. 43(2)
- Publication Year :
- 2015
-
Abstract
- Many rainfed wheat production systems are reliant on stored soil water for some or all of their water inputs. Selection and breeding for root traits could result in a yield benefit; however, breeding for root traits has traditionally been avoided due to the difficulty of phenotyping mature root systems, limited understanding of root system development and function, and the strong influence of environmental conditions on the phenotype of the mature root system. This paper outlines an international field selection program for beneficial root traits at maturity using soil coring in India and Australia. In the rainfed areas of India, wheat is sown at the end of the monsoon into hot soils with a quickly receding soil water profile; in season water inputs are minimal. We hypothesised that wheat selected and bred for high yield under these conditions would have deep, vigorous root systems, allowing them to access and utilise the stored soil water at depth around anthesis and grain-filling when surface layers were dry. The Indian trials resulted in 49 lines being sent to Australia for phenotyping. These lines were ranked against 41 high yielding Australian lines. Variation was observed for deep root traits e.g. in eastern Australia in 2012, maximum depth ranged from 118.8 to 146.3 cm. There was significant variation for root traits between sites and years, however, several Indian genotypes were identified that consistently ranked highly across sites and years for deep rooting traits.
- Subjects :
- 0106 biological sciences
Ecophysiology
04 agricultural and veterinary sciences
Plant Science
Root system
Biology
Monsoon
01 natural sciences
Agronomy
Anthesis
Soil water
040103 agronomy & agriculture
0401 agriculture, forestry, and fisheries
Agronomy and Crop Science
Subsoil
Water content
Water use
010606 plant biology & botany
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 14454416
- Volume :
- 43
- Issue :
- 2
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Functional plant biology : FPB
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....b011630e333e62ddf42435406196502a