Some physiological aspects of growth and yield in wheat crops: a comparison of a semidwarf and a standard height cultivar

Abstract

A field experiment showed the semidwarf cultivar Penjamo 62 to outyield the taller Australian cultivar Gamenya at nitrogen levels up to 896 kg N ha-1. This was attributed primarily to a faster rate of grain growth particularly in the later stages. Lodging resistance of Penjamo 62 accounted for only 16-58 per cent of the differences observed at the lower nitrogen levels. Although these two cultivars showed only small differences in both photosynthesis and in the duration of photosynthetic activity of microplots in the greenhouse, large differences in the efficiency of utilization of post-anthesis photosynthesis for grain production were inferred from growth analysis. Moreover, grain growth of Penjamo 62 was far more sensitive to a post-anthesis drought than that of Gamenya, even though similar levels of water deficit and reductions in photosynthesis were recorded in microplots of both cultivars.