Australia
March 16, 2007
Wheat
with high early vigour characteristics can produce more roots
and use nitrogen more effectively, according to CSIRO Plant
Industry research.
CSIRO Plant Industry scientists, including Dr Jairo Palta in
Western Australia, measured how quickly roots grew and the way
they grew in different wheat breeding lines.
Using glass-windowed root growth boxes, the roots of the
commercial variety, Janz, were compared with two wheat breeding
lines selected by Canberra-based CSIRO Plant Industry
researchers for their early vigour – Vig 18 and B18.
“While the root depth of all three varieties reached was
similar, root branching, particularly in the 0.2 to 0.7m layer
of the soil profile, was more prolific in the vigorous wheats,”
Dr Palta says.
“The early and more abundant root branching increased the root
length density, the number of roots, and the capacity of wheat
to capture nitrogen.”
“Increased nitrogen capture will also reduce the risk of
nitrogen fertiliser leaching away, which is a waste of resources
and harmful to the downstream environment.”Vig 18 and B18
developed a total root length 33 to 84 per cent more than Janz.
Also, their uptake of nitrogen from the top 20cm of soil was 60
to 68 per cent higher and was up to twice as much in the layer
between 20 and 70 centimetres.
“These factors indicate that we should look more closely at
wheat plants with favourable rooting characteristics to help
identify potential breeding parents for future wheat varieties,”
Dr Palta says.
“Increased nitrogen capture will also reduce the risk of
nitrogen fertiliser leaching away, which is a waste of resources
and harmful to the downstream environment.”
While conditions in controlled growth boxes are clearly
different to field conditions, there is good evidence from the
work of CSIRO Plant Industry scientists in Canberra that the
same benefits of increased nitrogen uptake in wheat varieties
with early vigour would be the same in the field.
Incorporating early vigour traits into wheat varieties could
reduce input costs and improve yield for farmers.
This research is partially supported by the
Grains Research and Development
Corporation. |
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