Temperature effects at three development stages on the yield of the wheat ear

Abstract

Temperature effects on the growth and yield of wheat (cv. Gamenya) were studied in controlled environments under three day/night temperature regimes (viz. 25/20, 20/15 and 15/10°C) and at three stages of development, viz. vegetative, ear development and grain growth stages.

The most important temperature effects were found during the ear development phase. Plants grown at low temperature at this time had long culms, large flag leaves and more potentially fertile florets in each spikelet. The number of florets which produced harvestable grains, and the weight of these grains at maturity, were affected by temperature during the grain growth stage.

Temperature prior to floral initiation was not of major importance to final ear weight in this variety, but it did have an effect on the number of mature ears present at harvest.

Grain weight per ear at maturity was found to be highly correlated with the number of grains set (r = 0.96), and hence variation in grain number accounted for most of the variation in ear grain weight. In those treatments where grain numbers were not markedly depressed by the temperature treatments, a hlgh positive correlation was found between flag leaf area duration and total grain yield (r = 0.73).