Epsilon Archive for Student Projects

Abstract

Despite historical increases in winter wheat yields is the current trend showing signs of yield stagnation. This stagnation is a cause for concern when considering the escalating food demand due to a growing global population. Nonetheless, it is still evident that there remains a greater genetic potential for further increases in winter wheat yields and precision seeding of winter wheat stands out as one possibility to elevate productivity, both through an improved seed singulation and reduced seed depth variability. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate whether a precision seeder adapted for small grains could improve the establishment of a winter wheat crop. In contrast to earlier studies, the emphasis was not only on investigating seed placement, but also on analyzing how seed placement affects emergence and plant development. A field experiment was thus carried out in southern Sweden to compare a precision seeder prototype to a conventional seed drill at three different seeding rates, 188, 281, and 375 seeds/m2. Crop establishment was assessed by investigating seeding depth, seed singulation, emergence, and plant development. The results show that precision seeding has the potential to improve winter wheat establishment, both through improved seed singulation and reduced seed depth variability. However, the improved seed singulation does not appear to be that advantageous at higher seeding rates or wider row spacings, as this results in plants being positioned closer together within the seed row. Furthermore, to fully unlock the potential of a reduced seed depth variability, all seeds must germinate promptly upon seeding to achieve a uniform emergence and plant development. During this field trial, both seeders were configured with different row spacings and fertilizer placements, which implies that further research is required to better understand the sole impact of an improved seed singulation and reduced seed depth variability on emergence and plant development, but also their subsequent contributions to the final yield.