Breeding innovations in wheat for resilient cropping systems (BRIWECS): Impact of breeding innovations in plant architecture and carbon exchange on productivity and stability

The evaluation of wheat cultivars from the last 50 years should provide insights into the structural and functional innovations in wheat breeding . In particular, we plan to examine whether the changes in the plant canopy architecture and function have influenced the adeptness of light absorption and photosynthesis. Furthermore, we want to find out what impact these changes have on the nitrogen, water and radiation use efficiency.

These innovations could have an influence on the resilience of winter wheat varieties in intensively and extensively managed production systems. Large-scale field trials are intended to assess the interaction between genotype, environment and management. Additionally, the genetic basis of plant traits related to the breeding innovations will get analyzed which should firstly serve as a basis to construct a crop-genomic model and secondly optimize the selection of locally adapted varieties via marker-assisted selection.