Effect of environment and cultivar on source limitation to grain weight in wheat

Abstract

The relative increase in final kernel weight (SR, %) with an artificial reduction of about 80% in the number of grains per spike was assumed to estimate the degree of post-anthesis assimilate or source limitation to grain weight in wheat. This assumption was supported by comparisons with other treatments designed to alter the ratio of source to grain number. SR was determined in crops grown under irrigation and high fertility in north-west Mexico over a 5 year period, in order to examine the effect of environment (year, sowing date) and cultivar on source limitation. Some old tall cultivars and many modern short cultivars of wheat (Triticum aestivum L., T. turgidum L.) and triticale (X Tritosecale Wittmack) were studied. For modern cultivars, kernel weight always appeared to be limited by source, SR averaging 21% over all years for eight such cultivars. For a given cultivar, environmental effects were considerable, being partly explained by a positive relationship between SR and mean temperature after anthesis. Each year SR was significantly affected by cultivar and, despite cultivar by year interaction, showed some consistency between years. Old bread wheats and triticales usually showed low source limitation (SR <10%), whereas most modern cultivars, regardless of species, showed higher source limitation (SR up to 50%) and higher grain yields, probably because of higher grain numbers per sq metre. Within this latter group, there was no relationship between SR and grain yield. The kernel weight attained as a result of grain number reduction, defined here as potential kernel weight, was a stable cultivar trait useful in understanding yield variation.