By Bob Yirka
A quartet of researchers with CSIRO Agriculture & Food in Australia has found via simulations that planting novel wheat genotypes using deep sowing could increase yields. In their paper published in the journal Nature Climate Change, Zhigan Zhao, Enli Wang, John Kirkegaard and Greg Rebetzke, describe how they used data from a variety of sources to create a simulation to show how wheat yields in Australia might be increased as conditions grow warmer and drier.
Most large-scale wheat farming operations, including those in Australia, are based on semi-dwarf varietals that were developed decades ago to increase yields. Such varieties increased yields because they were less prone to damage from wind and because they took less time to mature and were more responsive to fertilizer. But they have an Achilles heel—short coleoptiles.
Coleoptiles are sheathings that protect young shoots. The shortness means they need moist soil near the surface to survive. But as global warming progresses, soil near the surface grows warmer and drier. And because of that, scientists in Australia are worried that the semi-dwarf varieties will not grow under the increasingly hot sun found in Australia's wheat fields. The researchers with this new effort suggest the solution is clear—Australian wheat farmers need to switch to newer varieties of wheat—ones that have longer coleoptiles allowing them to reach down deeper into the soil where it is wetter. They also need to plant their crops earlier to allow them to mature before the hottest summer weather arrives.
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