Ideotype design for lodging-resistant wheat

The plant characteristics required to make wheat lodging-proof for the least investment of biomass are calculated using a validated model of the lodging process and information about the dry matter costs of altering lodging-associated characters. The plant characteristics required to give a crop yielding 8 t ha⁻¹ with 500 shoots m⁻² and 200 plants m⁻², a lodging return period of 25 years include a height of 0.7 m, a root plate spread of 57 mm, and for the bottom internode a wall width of 0.65 mm with a diameter/material strength combination ranging from a diameter of 5.86 mm with a material strength of 20 MPa to a diameter of 4.00 mm with a material strength of 50 MPa. It is estimated that this ideotype would require 7.9 t ha⁻¹ of stem biomass and would have a harvest index of 0.42. Observations of a wide range of varieties grown using crop management to maximise lodging resistance without reducing yield potential showed that the root plate of the best variety was 7 mm less than the ideotype target, the stem character targets were achieved but not all in one variety, and the height target was achievable with the use of plant growth regulators. Plant breeders must therefore focus on selecting for a wider root plate and combining the appropriate stem strength characteristics.