Wheat Improvement

This open-access textbook provides a comprehensive, up-to-date guide for students and practitioners wishing to access in a single volume the key disciplines and principles of wheat breeding. Wheat is a cornerstone of food security: it is the most widely grown of any crop and provides 20% of all human calories and protein. The authorship of this book includes world class researchers and breeders whose expertise spans cutting-edge academic science all the way to impacts in farmers’ fields. The book’s themes and authors were selected to provide a didactic work that considers the background to wheat improvement, current mainstream breeding approaches, and translational research and avant garde technologies that enable new breakthroughs in science to impact productivity. While the volume provides an overview for professionals interested in wheat, many of the ideas and methods presented are equally relevant to small grain cereals and crop improvement in general. The book is affordable, and because it is open access, can be readily shared and translated -- in whole or in part -- to university classes, members of breeding teams (from directors to technicians), conference participants, extension agents and farmers. Given the challenges currently faced by academia, industry and national wheat programs to produce higher crop yields --- often with less inputs and under increasingly harsher climates -- this volume is a timely addition to their toolkit

Advances in Wheat Genetics: From Genome to Field: Proceedings of the 12th International Wheat Genetics Symposium

plant genetics; plant genomics; agricultur

Water productivity indices of the soybean grown on silty clay soil under sprinkler irrigation

The objective of this research was to compare the effects of different irrigation treatments on soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] productivity and water use efficiency on experimental fields of the Maize Research Institute of Zemun Polje(Serbia), in 2007 and 2008. Four irrigation levels were investigated: full irrigation (I100), 65% and 40% of I100 (I65 and I40) and a rain-fed (I0) system. The crop water use efficiency (CWUE, also known as crop water productivity –CWP), irrigation water use efficiency (IWUE) and evapotranspiration water use efficiency (ETWUE) were used to assess the water productivity of each studied treatment. The efficiency of the same treatment differed between the years as it depended on seasonal water availability, weather conditions and their impact on seed yields. Maximum and minimum yields were obtained in the I65 and I0 treatments, averaging 3.41 t ha–1 and 2.26 t ha–1, respectively. Water use efficiency values were influenced by the irrigation levels. In general, CWUE values increased with the increased level of irrigation. In both growing seasons, IWUE and ETWUE decreased with increasing the seasonal water consumption and irrigation depth. On average, treatments I40 and I65 resulted in similar or higher CWUE and ETWUE than I100, in both growing seasons. I65 resulted in the highest IWUE, averaged over the two seasons, while I100 had the lowest IWUE. I65 could be proper for the soybean irrigated in Vojvodina when there is no water shortage and I45 could be used as a good basis for reduced sprinkler irrigation strategy development under water shortage

Effects of Irrigation Rate and Planting Density on Maize Yield and Water Use Efficiency in the Temperate Climate of Serbia

Scarce water resources severely limit maize (Zea mays L.) cultivation in the temperate regions of northern Serbia. A two-year field experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of irrigation and planting density on yield and water use efficiency in temperate climate under sprinkler irrigation. The experiment included five irrigation treatments (full irrigated treatment – FIT; 80% FIT, 60% FIT, 40% FIT, and rainfed) and three planting densities (PD1: 54,900 plants ha–1 ; PD2: 64,900 plants ha–1; PD3: 75,200 plants ha–1). There was increase in yield with the irrigation (1.05–80.00%) as compared to the rainfed crop. Results showed that decreasing irrigation rates resulted in a decrease in yield, crop water use efficiency (WUE), and irrigation water use efficiency (IWUE). Planting density had significant effects on yield, WUE, and IWUE which differed in both years. Increasing planting density gradually increased yield, WUE, and IWUE. For the pooled data, irrigation rate, planting density and their interaction was significant (P < 0.05). The highest two-year average yield, WUE, and IWUE were found for FIT-PD3 (14,612 kg ha–1), rainfed-PD2 (2.764 kg m–3), and 60% FITPD3 (2.356 kg m–3), respectively. The results revealed that irrigation is necessary for maize cultivation because rainfall is insufficient to meet the crop water needs. In addition, if water becomes a limiting factor, 80% FIT-PD3 with average yield loss of 15% would be the best agronomic practices for growing maize with a sprinkler irrigation system in a temperate climate of Serbia

3rd International conference on neglected and underutilized species (NUS): for a food-secure Africa. Accra, Ghana, 25-27 September 2013. Proceedings

The '3rd international conference on neglected and underutilized species: for a food-secure Africa' was held on 25-27 September in Accra, Ghana. These proceedings include 30 papers presented at the conference, organized under the themes: 1. Resilience of agricultural and livelihood systems -- with sub-themes on agronomy, conservation, climate change, health and nutrition; 2. Upgrading value chains on NUS; 3. Creating an enabling policy environment