Abstract
Water use efficiency (WUE), the ratio of grain yield to crop water use, provides a simple means of assessing whether yield is limited by water supply or other factors. Based on this assessment, yields of commercial dryland wheat ( Triticum aestivum L.) crops in southeastern Australia are usually not limited by water. Transpiration efficiency (TE), the ratio of yield to transpiration, is relatively stable for well‐managed crops, but the amount of water used is strongly affected by crop management. In a review of 13 comparisons of water use and wheat yield, providing optimum N fertilizer or suppressing cryptic root diseases with break crops increased water use by 23 mm and yields by 378 kg ha −1 , equivalent to 10% of the control yields. The additional soil water was extracted to levels of water potential as low as ‐5 MPa. A possible means of increasing yield potential of dryland crops is to manage transpiration so that relatively more water is used during the vegetative phase when vapor pressure deficit (VPD) is low, and hence TE is high. However, based on budgets of soil water and soluble carbohydrates stored in the vegetative organs and available for retranslocation, this option provides lower TE than conserving soil water for transpiration until grain filling when assimilates are directed to grain. Increasing the proportion of water transpired during the vegetative phase with N fertilizer can lead to particularly inefficient water use because increasing N status generally reduces the soluble carbohydrate reserves available for retranslocation to grain.
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Claims 8
Claim · model-written summary
Commercial dryland wheat yields in southeastern Australia are usually not limited by water.
- Taxon
- wheat
Triticum aestivume0 - Outcome
- yieldse0
- Qualifier
- usually not limited by watere0
- Setting
- southeastern Australiae0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“yields of commercial dryland wheat ( Triticum aestivum L.) crops in southeastern Australia are usually not limited by water”
Claim · model-written summary
Transpiration efficiency was relatively stable for well-managed crops.
- Taxon
- WheatTriticum aestivumt0
- Outcome
- Transpiration efficiency (TE)e0
- Qualifier
- well‐managed cropse0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Transpiration efficiency (TE), the ratio of yield to transpiration, is relatively stable for well‐managed crops”
t0“Wheat”
Claim · model-written summary
Crop management strongly affected the amount of water used.
- Taxon
- WheatTriticum aestivumt0
- Treatment
- crop managemente0
- Outcome
- amount of water usede0
Not reportedDirection
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“the amount of water used is strongly affected by crop management”
t0“Wheat”
Claim · model-written summary
Optimum nitrogen or break crops increased water use by 23 mm.
- Taxon
- wheatTriticum aestivumt0
- Treatment
- optimum N fertilizere0
- Outcome
- water usee0
- Direction
- increasede0
- Value
- 23 mme0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“providing optimum N fertilizer or suppressing cryptic root diseases with break crops increased water use by 23 mm”
t0“wheat”
Claim · model-written summary
Optimum nitrogen or break crops increased wheat yield by 378 kg ha −1.
- Taxon
- wheatTriticum aestivumt0
- Treatment
- optimum N fertilizere0
- Outcome
- yieldse0
- Direction
- increasede0
- Value
- 378 kg ha −1e0
Not reportedComparator
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“providing optimum N fertilizer or suppressing cryptic root diseases with break crops increased water use by 23 mm and yields by 378 kg ha −1”
t0“wheat”
Claim · model-written summary
The additional soil water was extracted to water potentials as low as ‐5 MPa.
- Taxon
- wheatTriticum aestivumt0
- Outcome
- soil water was extractede0
- Value
- ‐5 MPae0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“The additional soil water was extracted to levels of water potential as low as ‐5 MPa.”
t0“wheat”
Claim · model-written summary
Using more water during the vegetative phase gave lower transpiration efficiency than conserving water until grain filling.
- Taxon
- WheatTriticum aestivumt0
- Outcome
- TEe0
- Direction
- lowere0
- Comparator
- conserving soil water for transpiration until grain fillinge0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“this option provides lower TE than conserving soil water for transpiration until grain filling”
t0“Wheat”
Claim · model-written summary
Nitrogen-driven vegetative transpiration can lead to inefficient water use.
- Taxon
- WheatTriticum aestivumt0
- Treatment
- N fertilizere0
- Outcome
- inefficient water usee0
- Qualifier
- reduces the soluble carbohydrate reserves available for retranslocation to graine0
Organisms pictured · Representative pictures of the matched species, not figures from the paper.
Verbatim
e0“Increasing the proportion of water transpired during the vegetative phase with N fertilizer can lead to particularly inefficient water use because increasing N status generally reduces the soluble carbohydrate reserves available for retranslocation to grain.”
t0“Wheat”
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fertilization · physiology: water · Triticum aestivum (wheat)Positive and negative results
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- positive
- positive
- positive
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See all 116 papers →fertilization · yield · Triticum aestivum (wheat)Positive and negative results
3,114 papers in the same direction as this paper · 284 in the opposite direction · 39 reporting no difference from an alternative
- positive
- positive
- positive
3,434 papers more in this group
See all 3,438 papers →Claims are grouped by organism, treatment and what was measured or targeted. A paper counts as positive when any of its claims in the group is positive.