Identifying spring wheat varieties that improve nitrogen use efficiency
Term: 3 years, starting in 2020
Status: Ongoing
Funding Amount: $252,552
Lead Researcher(s): Dr. Kate Congreves (University of Saskatchewan)
Funding Partners: Alberta Wheat Commission
Project Description
The overall objective of this research project is to determine nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) capabilities for a range of historic and modern spring wheat cultivars and to identify agronomic traits that contribute to enhancing NUE of spring wheat.
Fertilizer-N is the costliest of all inputs for spring wheat in 2019 (Crop Planning Guide 2019). Adequate N is needed to maintain a photosynthetically active canopy, resulting in high grain yield and protein, which maintains high end-use quality. However, fertilizer N use efficiencies (NUE) for spring wheat are oftentimes fairly low. It is speculated that there are differences in crop NUE among the new wheat varieties being produced in Saskatchewan. These differences may arise from traits associated with grain-filling, nitrate assimilation, root phenology, soil microbial interactions, and the linkage to photosynthesis, post-anthesis remobilization, and partitioning. The proposed research will use 15N technology (stable isotope as tracer) to track N-derived from different pools (fertilizer vs indigenous soil N) into the plant, and its distribution among plant organs.
Thus, the ultimate goal of the proposed research is to identify the traits associated with spring wheat varieties that show the best crop NUE, thereby providing breeders with critical information for designing new crosses and breeding approaches aimed at increasing NUE. This research will enable growers to select genotypes that reduce N-fertilizer applications without negatively impacting yields.