Development,growth, and nitrogen use of autumn- and spring-sown facultative wheat |
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Authors: | Reinhard W Neugschwandtner Katharina Böhm Rea M Hall Hans-Peter Kaul |
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Institution: | 1. Division of Agronomy, Department of Crop Sciences, BOKU – University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Konrad Lorenz-Str. 24, 3430 Tulln, Austriareinhard.neugschwandtner@boku.ac.at;3. Division of Agronomy, Department of Crop Sciences, BOKU – University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, Konrad Lorenz-Str. 24, 3430 Tulln, Austria |
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Abstract: | Spring-sown crops are expected to have a higher risk of drought during summer in the next decades in Central Europe due to expected climate change. Therefore, a two-year experiment was conducted under Pannonian growing conditions in Eastern Austria to investigate the effect of autumn- and spring-sowing of facultative wheat. Autumn-sowing of facultative wheat enhanced crop development, soil coverage, crop stand height, crop growth rate, and nitrogen (N) utilization efficiency during the vegetation period compared to spring-sowing; duration of growth stages was prolonged and crops were earlier ripe. In contrast, spring-sowing resulted in higher relative growth rates, higher N concentrations of aboveground dry matter, higher relative N uptake rates, and more mineral N in the soil. At harvest, grain yield and yield components ears m?2 and thousand kernel weight (TKW) were higher in autumn-sown than in spring-sown wheat, resulting thereby in an increased seed yield. Spring-sown wheat had higher N concentrations in grain and in straw. Anyhow, N yield was slightly higher with autumn-sowing due to the higher grain and straw yields. Grain and straw yield, plant stand height, ears m?2, and TKW were impaired in the second experimental year by a severe drought for both sowing dates as well as N concentrations and N yields of grain and straw, partial factor N use efficiency and N utilization efficiency. But the yield components harvest index, grains m?2, and grains ear?1 were strongly impaired with spring-sowing under drought conditions. Thus, autumn-sowing of wheat resulted in higher yield stability across both years, based on these yield components highlighting possible benefits of autumn-sowing with expected summer drought under climate change. |
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Keywords: | facultative wheat Triticum aestivum sowing date yield components nitrogen |
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