Comparison of the root:shoot ratio of old and modern wheat cultivars with respect to their drought stress reaction

Crop science

We seek to understand how changes in agricultural systems, such as changes in crop varieties and irrigation, affect soil-atmosphere interactions. Breeding advances in crop varieties have not only led to increased yields in recent decades, but have also changed evapotranspiration, water use and carbon sequestration of arable landscapes. To understand more about the impact of breeding progress on land-atmosphere interactions, we are conducting a field experiment at the Klein-Altendorf campus. In this experiment, we are growing six winter wheat varieties that were widely used in Germany between 1895 and 2002.

The objective of this study is to investigate and compare shoot and root traits of modern and old wheat cultivars, as well as their reaction to drought stress.

This study comprises work on a field trial with six winter wheat varieties and two irrigation treatments. The measurements are carried out at three times during the growing season, at stem elongation (~beginning of April), at heading (~mid-May) and at flowering (~mid-June). At these times, work peaks are to be expected both in the field and in the laboratory, during which shoot biomass and root analyses are carried out.

We expect to see differences in the carbon partitioning and water requirements of modern and old wheat cultivars.

5 Months

English or German

Interests in crop phenotyping

Dominik Behrend, Dr. Thomas Gaiser, Thuy Nguyen

dbehrend@uni-bonn.de