Go. Magrin et al., SPATIAL AND INTERANNUAL VARIATIONS IN THE PHOTOTHERMAL QUOTIENT - IMPLICATIONS FOR THE POTENTIAL KERNEL NUMBER OF WHEAT CROPS IN ARGENTINA, Agricultural and forest meteorology, 67(1-2), 1993, pp. 29-41
Analyses were performed to evaluate the hypothesis that, under conditi
ons of good water availability, variations in yield in the Argentine w
heat belt were related to variations in the photothermal quotient (Pq,
the ratio of mean daily incident short-wave radiation to mean daily t
emperature in excess of 4.5 degrees C). Data relating to spring bread
wheat yields collected between 1978 and 1985 at several sites of the n
ational wheat nursery, for which good weather data were available, wer
e filtered to eliminate trials which may have been exposed to drought
and other adversities, such as disease and hail. There were significan
t (P = 0.05) differences in yield, kernel number (Nk, grains m(-2)) an
d, to some extent, kernel weight among crops grown at different sites
under close to optimum levels of water and nutrient availability. Nk w
as the most important determinant of yield, variations in Nk accountin
g for 78% of the total variance in the yield. Cultivar effects, presum
ably cultivar-specific differences in kernel weight, accounted for a f
urther 14% of this variance. For the filtered data set, the relationsh
ip between Nk and Pq for the 25 days prior to anthesis, accounted for
52% of the total variability in Nk. The Pq and cultivar together accou
nted for 82% of total variability. Associations between Nk and either
radiation or temperature alone were weaker, and site effects not accou
nted for by Pg were very small. The Pq estimated from 12- to 15-year w
eather records for the currently accepted optimum date of anthesis dif
fered significantly (P = 0.05) between each of three representative si
tes in the northern, central and southern parts of the wheat belt. Red
uctions in potential Nk associated with interannual variations in Pg a
t each site may be as much as 34% of maximum Nk for the site. The Pq f
or anthesis dates of up to 20 days before or after the currently accep
ted optimum at any of these sites did not differ with respect to the o
ptimum date, thus no advantage in terms of greater Nk is to be expecte
d from changes in anthesis dates.