Climate Change & Adaptability

Investigates the potential to capitalise on early season breaks

Funded by GRDC in collaboration with Birchip Cropping Group, CSIRO, FarmLink Research Limited.

Climate change has the potential to increase weather variability and alter traditional weather patterns. The trial will investigate the potential to capitalise on early season breaks, by sowing wheat earlier than its normal sowing window and to prevent frost damage by manipulating plant physiology and flowering time with plant growth regulators.

Five wheat varieties covering early to late maturity will be sown at two densities across four times of sowing and two plant growth regulators.

This experiment seeks to address two research questions;

  1. To what extent is the current adaptation of sowing early-mid cultivars earlier than traditionally practised likely to increase yields, and what are the ramifications of increased exposure to frost risk and reduced yield potential in favourable seasons?
  2. Can the harvest index of early sown late maturing varieties be improved by manipulating plant density, selection of high harvest index cultivars or through the application of plant growth regulators?

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