Factors Relating to Seedling Emergence in Spring Wheat

Abstract

Spring wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is cultivated in the northern part of Japan. Although the vigorous early growth of spring wheat is desirable, the rapid and uniform emergence of seedlings is reduced by adverse environmental effects, such as excessive soil moisture and low temperature. Analyses of correlations between field emergence day and germination traits under low temperature, after treatment with polyethelene glycol (PEG) and after flooding treatment of 44 varieties from Japan and other countries indicated a general absence of interrelationships. Moreover, there was no significant correlation between field emergence days in trials in 1996 and 1997. Small and large seeds of Haruyutaka harvested in 1994 and 1996 were hand-sown at depths of 3 cm and 10 cm without fertilizer and with standard fertilizer in brown forest soil in a field of the Tokyo University of Agriculture in Hokkaido. The superiority of large seeds over small seeds was demonstrated by the production of more shoot dry matter with sowing at a depth of 3 cm and by the number of emerged plants with sowing at a depth of 10 cm. Although the coefficients of correlation between field emergence day and germination traits of the wheat varieties were low, a sowing method that optimized seedling growth in the field was demonstrated in this experiment.