Abstract
A model of the lodging process has been successfully adapted for use on spring wheat grown in North-West Mexico (NWM). The lodging model was used to estimate the lodging-associated traits required to enable spring wheat grown in NWM with a typical yield of 6tha−1 and plant height of 0.7m to achieve a lodging return period of 25 years. Target traits included a root plate spread of 51mm and stem strength of the bottom internode of 268Nmm. These target traits increased to 54.5mm and 325Nmm, respectively, for a crop yielding 10tha−1. Analysis of multiple genotypes across three growing seasons enabled relationships between both stem strength and root plate spread with structural dry matter to be quantified. A NWM lodging resistant ideotype yielding 6tha−1 would require 3.93tha−1 of structural stem biomass and 1.10tha−1 of root biomass in the top 10cm of soil, which would result in a harvest index (HI) of 0.46 after accounting for chaff and leaf biomass. A crop yielding 10tha−1 would achieve a HI of 0.54 for 0.7m tall plants or 0.41 for more typical 1.0m tall plants. This study indicates that for plant breeders to achieve both high yields and lodging-proofness they must either breed for greater total biomass or develop high yielding germplasm from shorter crops.
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