A concept of selection for "low input" wheat varieties : wheat: prospects for global improvement

Nutrient efficiency in wheat is very complex. It includes two major types: nutrient acquisition efficiency and nutrient use efficiency. Various studies on wild, landraces, old, intermediate and new genotypes of cereals showed that the new varieties produced higher grain yields than the old varieties, and were also more efficient at using nutrients. Several spring wheat cultivars, representing almost all cultivars of spring wheat, released from the Federal Office for Cultivar Registration, Germany and published in the ‘Descriptive List of Cultivars’, were used to investigate the interactive effects between genotypes and the use efficiencies of the three macro nutrients N, P and K by the grain and straw. The results obtained in this study indicate that nutrient use efficiency of the single nutrients varies widely within recent cultivars. Some cultivars were identified as being multiple-nutrient use efficient. These are considered low-input cultivars. It appears that a special breeding programme of crop cultivars for low nutrient and stress conditions could be successful. Improved cultivar response to nutrients will help to reduce inputs and hence protect the environment.