Wheat yields only 60% of what they could be
16 Dec 2019
New work from agricultural institute Rothamsted Research shows that, in some European countries, the wheat grain yield could be increased by up to 90%.
Using existing data on the contribution of genes to individual plant traits such as size, shape, metabolism and growth, the researchers ran simulations to create ‘perfect’ wheat plants that were tailored to each region. When compared to the performance of locally adapted strains, in all cases they found wheat varieties were underperforming for grain yield, with an obvious ‘genetic yield gap’ between reality and possibility.
Lead researcher Dr Mikhail Semenov said: “Europe is the largest wheat producer, delivering more than a third of wheat globally, but European wheat's yield potential from genetic improvements has not yet been realised.”
Using a computer model called Sirius, they ran millions of simulations, which demonstrated that many of the wheat traits that contribute to the amount of grain produced were well below their optimums.
Simulations were based on extensive data on the natural genetic variation underpinning key plant traits. These included tolerance and response to drought and heat stresses, the size and orientation of the light-capturing upper leaves, and the timing of key life cycle events.
Published in the journal Global Food Security, the results show that if their genomes were ‘fine-tuned’ to their environments, that wheat plants potentially produce up to 15 tonnes of grain per hectare, with the idealised average 5.2 tonnes per hectare greater than the current average.
