Maximising Wheat Yields, and Some Causes of Yield Variation

Maximising Wheat Yields, and Some Causes of Yield Variation.

Conclusions:

There can be no one single answer to the question of why yields vary. Our tentative conclusion is that the highest yields are built up by getting a whole series of decisions on rates and timing correct. The experimental sites have until the present deliberately been sited to avoid fields where root disease could be expected, but work on this is developing. It is already clear that very consistent responses to foliar pathogen sprays are obtained, and this seems an essential component of any drive for high yields. The part played by water stress is as yet uncertain, though recent evidence suggests it is of rather little importance in normal years on medium and heavy textured soils. The exact control of nitrogen is important, and the complex processes involved require the development of reliable monitoring methods. Whilst we do not yet have evidence that any normal soils will not give these very high yields, the range of acceptable treatments is much narrower on some soils than others. Where a number of decisions are all quite critical, the chance of getting them all right becomes very small.

P B Tinker and F V Widdowson, Rothamsted Experimental Station, Harpenden, Hertfordshire, UK.

36 Pages, 6 Figures, 12 Tables, 47 References