Management practices for high yielding Spring Wheat
Anne Kirk, Rejean Picard, and Earl Bargen, Manitoba Agriculture and Resource Development
James Frey, Scott Chalmers, Nirmal Hari, Haider Abbas, Manitoba Agriculture Diversification Centres
To quantify the yield benefit of intensive management practices in spring wheat, and to determine if these management practices provide the same benefit to a variety of cultivars.
Please see the report below.
Canadian Western Red Spring (CWRS) wheat cultivars are increasingly high yielding, and may require specific management practices to achieve their yield potential. A study looking at rates of yield gain in CWRS cultivars found that yields rose 0.67% per year between the early 1990’s and 2013 (Thomas and Graf 2014). Higher yielding CWRS cultivars may require specific management practices in order to achieve their yield potential. While there are a variety of management practices promoted as increasing yields, this project will focus on nitrogen (N) rates, plant growth regulators (PGR’s), and fungicides.
Targeting higher yields often means increasing N rates, which brings with it the increased risk of lodging. PGR’s may be a good fit for management systems with higher N rates as they have been shown to reduce plant height in spring wheat (Clark and Fedak 1977), and can be used as a risk management tool to reduce lodging and maintain yield (Strydhorst et al., 2017). The PGR Manipulator (chlormequat chloride) is registered for use in Canada but more information about this PGR is needed as response depends on crop type and cultivar, application timing, and weather conditions.
Fungicides to control FHB and leaf diseases are commonly used on spring wheat in Manitoba. Ransom and McMullen (2008) reported yield increases of 6-44% with foliar fungicide use, with the greatest increases occurring when susceptible cultivars were grown under high disease pressure.