Increasing climate variability is as great a concern as increasing air temperatures forecast with climate change. The challenge for breeders is in identifying and selecting traits that are genetically correlated with environments into the future …
Optimising Canola Phenology for Australian Target Production Environments
In recent years, plot specific crop models have been adapted to national and regional scales to aid policy makers with agricultural decisions concerning climate change and the resulting effects on food security and future water demands.
A genetic diversity toolkit to maximise harvest index by controlling the duration of developmental phase
A nationally validated model of wheat and barley flowering time that can be parameterised for new cultivars using molecular markers, genomic data and/or controlled environment phenotypic data.
Drought frequently limits Australian wheat production, and the expected future increase in temperatures and rainfall variability will further challenge productivity. A modelling approach captured plant×environment×management interactions to simulate …
In order to predict the consequences and value of frost adaptation through breeding and agronomy across Australia’s cropping region it is essential that a validated frost damage function is incorporated into our crop models. This paper reports on …
Frost, during reproductive developmental stages, especially post head emergence frost (PHEF), can result in catastrophic yield loss for wheat producers. Breeding for improved PHEF tolerance may allow greater yield to be achieved, by (i) reducing …
High temperatures across the Australian sorghum belt can reduce sorghum yields, but genotypic differences in heat tolerance could mitigate these yield losses. The objectives of this study were to quantify occurrences of high temperatures around …
Understanding how climate is varying and is likely affecting crop productivity in the coming decades is essential for global food security. Climate change studies predict an increase in temperature and more rainfall variability in future decades, …
Identification of earliness per se (Eps) flowering time loci in spring wheat are troublesome due to confounding effects of vernalization and photoperiod responses. The Wheat Association Mapping Initiative panel of 287 elite lines was assessed to …
Traits related with water productivity in dryland cropping interact in multiple ways to influence final grain yield, with traits being of different value across environments. In recent years, crop models have been demonstrated as a useful tool to …
Frost damage remains a major problem for broadacre cropping, viticulture, horticulture and other agricultural industries in Australia. Annual losses from frost events in Australian broadacre agriculture are estimated at between $120 million and $700 …
Point-based crop models are frequently used to investigate the interaction of genotype, environment and management (G × E × M) for breeding programs and adaptation research. These studies require the processing of millions of simulations to make …
Stresses from heat and drought are expected to increasingly suppress crop yields, but the degree to which current models can represent these effects is uncertain. Here we evaluate the algorithms that determine impacts of heat and drought stress on …
Increases in air and soil temperatures will impact cereal growth and reduce crop yields. Little is known about how increasing temperatures will impact seedling growth and crop establishment. Climate forecast models predict that by 2060, mean and …
A crop can be viewed as a complex system with outputs (e.g. yield) that are affected by inputs of genetic, physiology, pedo-climatic and management information. Application of numerical methods for model exploration assist in evaluating the major …
By accelerating crop development, warming climates may result in mismatches between key sensitive growth stages and extreme climate events, with severe consequences for crop yield and food security. Using recent estimates of gene responses to …
While extreme climatic events (frost, heat and drought) can already severely limit wheat production, the expected future increase in extreme temperatures and rainfall variability will further challenge improvement in crop productivity. In addition, …
Heat stress shock has been known to cause sterility in sorghum and the anticipated increasing frequency of heat shock events with maximum temperature trends implies increasing risk. Here we summarise our research on specific varietal attributes …
Wheat is one of the primary staple foods. Due to a rising population and improved living standards, demand for this crop continues to increase. Much of the wheat produced in Australia is grown in water-limited environments. Climate models project …
A single post head-emergence frosts (PHEF) event has the potential to devastate individual wheat crops by damaging stems and killing whole heads. Wheat crops are most sensitive after head emergence and hence management of crop phenology to avoid PHEF …
Characterization of drought environment types (ETs) has proven useful for breeding crops for drought-prone regions. Here, we consider how changes in climate and atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations will affect drought ET frequencies in …
Substantial genotype x environment interactions impede breeding progress for yield. Identifying genetic controls associated with yield response is confounded by poor genetic correlations across testing environments. Part of this problem is related to …
Spring wheat production systems in Australia require fine-tuning of heading time in order to maximise the efficient use of resources (radiation, water, fertiliser) across the season, while minimising the risk of crop failure due to frost, heat and …
Spring radiant frosts occurring when wheat is in reproductive developmental stages can result in catastrophic yield lost for producers. In wheat, heading time is the main determinant to minimize frost risks and to adapt new frost-tolerant cultivars …
Wheat is one of the main grains produced across the globe and wheat yields are highly sensitive to changes in climate. Australia is one of the main exporters of wheat, and variations in its national production can affect global markets. We evaluated …
Climate extremes in the low rainfall region of the wheat belt
Wheat is one of the main grains produced across the globe and wheat yields are sensitive to changes in climate. Australia is a major exporter of wheat, and variations in its national production influence trade supplies and global markets. We …
Radiant spring frosts occurring during reproductive developmental stages can result in catastrophic yield loss for wheat producers. To better understand the spatial and temporal variability of frost, the occurrence and impact of frost events on …
Abstract A large set of biophysical system-modelling simulations were undertaken for a set of 30 representative farm systems across the Australian wheat belt for a historical period (1980-2010) and projected climate to 2030 (AR4). Simulated yield and …
Climatic variability in dryland production environments (E) generates variable yield and crop production risks. Optimal combinations of genotype (G) and management (M) depend strongly on E and thus vary among sites and seasons. Traditional crop …
While extreme climatic events (frost, heat and drought) can already severely limit wheat production, the expected future increase in extreme temperatures and rainfall variability will further challenge improvement in crop productivity. In addition, …
Climatic variability in dryland production environments (E) generates crop production risks. Optimal combinations of genotype (G) and management (M) depend strongly on E and thus vary among sites and seasons. Traditional crop improvement approaches …
Flowering time is a main determinant of wheat adaptation to diverse environments and is influenced by three groups of genes, earliness per se (EPS), VRN and PPD. The gene-based models, used known genes to predict wheat phenotype, would be robust for …
Varying the timing of reproductive stages of growth relative to climatic stresses is a useful adaptation to maintain yields. In future climates, the expectation that heat, frost and drought stresses may change in their timing means requires that …
Heading time is a major determinant of the adaptation of wheat to different environments, and is critical in minimizing risks of frost, heat, and drought on reproductive development. Given that major developmental genes are known in wheat, a …
While extreme temperature and frequent drought severely affect wheat production, predictions of climate change forecast increased rainfall variability and increased occurrence of high temperature events. Here, we propose modelling tools to predict …
Extreme climate, especially temperature, can severely reduce wheat yield. As global warming has already begun to increase mean temperature and the occurrence of extreme temperatures, it has become urgent to accelerate the 5–20 year process of …
The year 2050 is two to five full cycles of plant breeding from the present. Given that it takes 3 to 20 years to develop a new cultivar, this is not a substantial time period in which to develop improved adaptation. Averaged across many crops, …
To pollinate and set grain, Australian wheat needs to flower in spring in a ‘window’ when risks of frost or heat stress are low. Other stresses (e.g. early and late drought conditions) are also important in affecting the window, but here the focus is …
Observations indicate that global radiation reaching the Earth’s surface has gradually decreased over the past several decades (i.e., the “global dimming” phenomenon), while the fraction of diffuse radiation in global radiation has increased. It has …
Adding value to GRDC's National Variety Trial network
A Molecular Breeding Platform
A national research program for climate ready cereals