TITLE:
A Standardized Method for Determining Tillering Capacity of Wheat Cultivars
AUTHORS:
Jordan D. Stanley, Grant H. Mehring, Jochum J. Wiersma, Joel K. Ransom
KEYWORDS:
Tillering Capacity, Wheat Cultivar, Seeding Density, Plant Spacing, Z-Score
JOURNAL NAME:
American Journal of Plant Sciences,
Vol.11 No.5,
May
9,
2020
ABSTRACT: Genotype and agronomic management greatly influence
crop growth and grain yield in wheat (Triticum
aestivum L.). To ensure sustainable production, seeding rate selection is
important to maximize efficiency of every
plant. Tillering can allow wheat plants to adjust growth relative to plant
density and quality of growing conditions.
This research sought to determine a method for assessing tillering of wheat cultivars and develop a
standardized approach for characterizing cultivar tillering capacity. Nine
cultivars with diverse genetic and phenotypic characteristics were seeded in
2017-2018 at Prosper, ND using various seeding techniques at differing plant
spacing arrangements to evaluate tillering habit and spikes plant-1.
Cultivars grown at population densities common in grower fields did not express
full tillering potential. Spaced-plantings of cultivars promoted cultivar
expression of tillering phenotype. The SOFATT (seed only a few, and then thin) method, where average spikes plant-1 was determined from multiple plants sampled from a cultivar grown at
spaced-plantings (inter-row and intra-row spacing at 30 ± 12 cm), is
recommended to properly assess tillering habits of wheat cultivars. Breeders
and researchers can use results from SOFATT evaluations to determine tillering capacity rating for each cultivar
based on raw or transformed z-score values for spikes plant-1.