It is not always easy to find the right amount of fertilizer for wheat crops. If too little is applied, it is completely used up, but the harvest falls short of its full potential. And if too much is used, the harvest is good but the growing grain does not consume all of the fertilizer. The surplus nitrogen finds its way into the environment and damages ecosystems and the climate. But wheat is essential for satisfying the growing hunger in the world.
To overcome these challenges, Senthold Asseng, a professor of digital agriculture at TUM, Pierre Martre (INRAE) and other researchers have investigated new wheat cultivars still in the experimental stages. Their results have been published in Nature Plants. The team used data from five experimental fields representing global wheat producing regions with particularly high yields. The fields were included into a simulation model with other fields and analyzed under three climate scenarios: the climate conditions of today and global warming of 1 degree Celsius and 4.8 degrees Celsius. The results show the yields that can be expected from the tested varieties when different quantities of nitrogen fertilizer are applied.
Higher yields, but nitrogen remains a problem
The researchers showed that the new wheat cultivars achieve 16 percent higher yields under current climate conditions than those now used if the same quantities of fertilizer are applied. Through improved utilization of the nitrogen, i.e. greater nitrogen efficiency, the ecological footprint is reduced. However, the team also showed that overall nitrogen needs will increase in the course of global warming if the full yield potential of the plants is to be achieved – although the new cultivars will still use nitrogen more efficiently than current varieties.
Consequently, new wheat cultivars are superior to the current ones in important respects and could contribute to food security.
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