Assessment of water-limited winter wheat yield potential at spatially contrasting sites in Ireland using a simple growth and development model
Date
2017-09-19
Journal Title
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Publisher
Teagasc
Abstract
Although Irish winter wheat yields are among the highest globally, increases in the profitability of this crop are required to
maintain its economic viability. However, in order to determine if efforts to further increase Irish wheat yields are likely to
be successful, an accurate estimation of the yield potential is required for different regions within Ireland. A winter wheat
yield potential model (WWYPM) was developed, which estimates the maximum water-limited yield achievable, within the
confines of current genetic resources and technologies, using parameters for winter wheat growth and development
observed recently in Ireland and a minor amount of daily meteorological input (maximum and minimum daily temperature,
total daily rainfall and total daily incident radiation). The WWYPM is composed of three processes: (i) an estimation of
potential green area index, (ii) an estimation of light interception and biomass accumulation and (iii) an estimation of
biomass partitioning to grain yield. Model validation indicated that WWYPM estimations of water-limited yield potential
(YPw) were significantly related to maximum yields recorded in variety evaluation trials as well as regional average and
maximum farm yields, reflecting the model’s sensitivity to alterations in the climatic environment with spatial and seasonal
variations. Simulations of YPw for long-term average weather data at 12 sites located at spatially contrasting regions of
Ireland indicated that the typical YPw varied between 15.6 and 17.9 t/ha, with a mean of 16.7 t/ha at 15% moisture content.
These results indicate that the majority of sites in Ireland have the potential to grow high-yielding crops of winter wheat
when the effects of very high rainfall and other stresses such as disease incidence and nutrient deficits are not considered.
Description
Publication history: Published online - 19 September 2017
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Keywords
model, radiation use efficiency, yield gap, yield potential
Citation
Lynch, J. P., Fealy, R., Doyle, D., Black, L. and Spink, J. (2017) ‘Assessment of water-limited winter wheat yield potential at spatially contrasting sites in Ireland using a simple growth and development model’, Irish Journal of Agricultural and Food Research, 56(1), pp. 65–76. doi: 10.1515/ijafr-2017-0007.