Effective use of water by wheat varieties with different root system sizes in rain-fed experiments in Central Europe

Drought is a predominant cause of low yields worldwide. There is an urgent need for more water efficient cropping systems facing large water consumption of irrigated agriculture and high unproductive losses via runoff and evaporation. Identification of yield-limiting constraints in the plant-soil-atmosphere continuum are the key to improved management of plant water stress. Crop ecology provides a systematic approach for this purpose integrating soil hydrology and plant physiology into the context of crop production. We review main climate, soil and plant properties and processes that determine yield in different water-limited environments. From this analysis, management measures for cropping systems under specific drought conditions are derived. Major findings from literature analysis are as follows. (1) Unproductive water losses such as evaporation and runoff increase from continental in-season rainfall climates to storage-dependent winter rainfall climates. Highest losses occur under tropical residual moisture regimes with short intense rainy season. (2) Sites with a climatic dry season require adaptation via phenology and water saving to ensure stable yields. Intermittent droughts can be buffered via the root system, which is still largely underutilised for better stress resistance. (3) At short-term better management options such as mulching and date of seeding allow to adjust cropping systems to site constraints. Adapted cultivars can improve the synchronisation between crop water demand and soil supply. At long term, soil hydraulic and plant physiological constraints can be overcome by changing tillage systems and breeding new varieties with higher stress resistance. (4) Interactions between plant and soil, particularly in the rhizosphere, are a way towards better crop water supply. Targeted management of such plant-soil interactions is still at infancy.We conclude that understanding site-specific stress hydrology is imperative to select the most efficient measures to mitigate stress. Major progress in future can be expected from crop ecology focussing on the management of complex plant (root)-soil interactions.

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“…Existing high throughput approaches are mostly indirect (e.g. Středa et al 2012) or ex situ (e.g. Hund et al 2009b).…”

Section: Breeding For Dehydration Avoidancementioning

confidence: 99%

Management of crop water under drought: a review

Bodner

Nakhforoosh

Kaul

2015

Agron. Sustain. Dev.

457

234

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“…This is similar to irrigation in dry conditions (Paynter and Young, 2004). In the experiments of Středa et al (2012), in a dry year, the varieties of wheat that showed the greatest difference in root system size were found to exhibit a yield difference of 860 kg ha -1 , which translates approximately to the use of an additional 15 mm of subsoil water. However, in some places (in years with above average amounts of precipitation or in wet localities), there was a negative relationship between the size of the root system and the yield.…”

Section: Methodological Developments Modifications and Criticisms Ofmentioning

confidence: 60%

Field phenotyping of plant roots by electrical capacitance – a standardized methodological protocol for application in plant breeding: a Review

Středa¹,

Haberle²,

Klimešová³

et al. 2020

Int. Agrophys.

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A b s t r a c t. Due to the absence of a suitable method and standardized procedures, the root systems of plants have been evaluated to a much lesser extent than aboveground organs. The aim of this article is (i) to provide a detailed description and thus standardization of an upgraded procedure of electrical capacitance measurement for evaluating the size of the root system of plants in situ, which allows for a reassessment to be made during the growing season and subsequent harvest of seeds for the planting of selected progenies, (ii) to demonstrate, through a standardized methodological protocol, the applicability of root electrical capacitance measurement as a field phenotyping method for the selection of superior root systems to improve crop abiotic stress tolerance and resource efficiency, (iii) to suggest a standardized methodological protocol for the application of electrical capacitance measurements in breeding nurseries, and (iv) to discuss the methodological aspects, development and limitations of this method. A methodological overview of the use of electrical capacitance to measure plant root systems, which emerged from working groups directed by the author of this unique method, is presented along with a standardized protocol. An overview of the application of electrical capacitance measurements of roots in breeding is shown along with some examples of successful applications.K e y w o r d s: root system, drought tolerance, varieties, yield

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“…4a). The extent of the wheat root system already varies significantly between varieties (Středa et al 2012), and plant breeding efforts have been made to use plant breeding to produce cultivars with an enhanced ability to acquire P (Gahoonia & Nielsen 2004). Significant improvements in crop growth and output have been demonstrated to be possible from targeted breeding to improve varieties (Siddique et al 1989), therefore a re-profiling of root branching distribution is potentially possible, and could drive an increase in crop P acquisition.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Additional and more rigorous experiments would need to be undertaken to properly validate possible improved root structures and their effects in high-and low-P soils. Given the variations in root system size present in commercially available wheat varieties (Středa et al 2012), a targeted breeding programme has the potential to provide a range of root architectural variations that may prove to be more suited to low-P soils. Furthermore, other parameters from Table 1, such as root hair dynamics, could be recalculated to find possible differences between high-and low-P soils.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

How changing root system architecture can help tackle a reduction in soil phosphate (P) levels for better plant P acquisition

Heppell

Talboys

Payvandi

et al. 2014

Plant Cell & Environment

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19The readily available global rock phosphate (P) reserves may run out within the next 50-130 20 years, causing soils to have a reduced P concentration which will affect plant P uptake. Using 21 a combination of mathematical modelling and experimental data we investigated potential 22 plant-based options for optimising crop P uptake in reduced soil P environments. 23By varying the P concentration within a well-mixed agricultural soil, for high and low P (35.5 24 to 12.5 mg l -1 respectively, using Olsen's P index), we investigated branching distributions 25 within a wheat root system that maximise P uptake. 26Changing the root branching distribution from linear (evenly spaced branches) to strongly 27 exponential (a greater number of branches at the top of the soil), improves P uptake by 142%

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Effective use of water by wheat varieties with different root system sizes in rain-fed experiments in Central Europe

Cited by 40 publications

References 23 publications

Management of crop water under drought: a review

Management of crop water under drought: a review

Field phenotyping of plant roots by electrical capacitance – a standardized methodological protocol for application in plant breeding: a Review

How changing root system architecture can help tackle a reduction in soil phosphate (P) levels for better plant P acquisition

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