A new method for assessing plant lodging and the impact of management options on lodging in canola crop production

Lodging, defined as the permanent displacement of aboveground parts, is a common problem to cause yield loss, deterioration in seed quality and difficult to harvest in canola (Brassica napus L.) crop production. This study aimed to develop a method for assessing crop lodging, to examine how agronomic practices affected the relationships between root lodging and electrical capacitance traits. Canola plants were more susceptible to root lodging than stem lodging. The electrical measurements were more closely related with anchorage strength (Sp) than stem bending strength (Ss). Among the three electrical measurements, the root capacitance (C) displayed the most consistent and significant relationships with Sp in all three field experiments (R2 = 0.88–0.56; P ≤ 0.01). This study indicates that the risk of lodging can be reduced by using appropriate management practices and variety selection. Enhancing root Sp was advocated as a priority over enhancing stem Ss in cultivar improvement. Electrical measurements, especially of root C, can be considered as a non–invasive technique that could partially replace the intrusive methods used for the in situ assessment of lodging resistance among various agronomic practices or can be applied in breeding programs for selecting genotypes with high yield potentials and strong Sp values.

[1]  Scott,et al.  A method for the assessment of the risk of wheat lodging , 1998, Journal of theoretical biology.

[2]  A. R. Ennos,et al.  Stem and root characteristics associated with lodging resistance in four winter wheat cultivars , 1994, The Journal of Agricultural Science.

[3]  J. Craigon,et al.  A comparison of root and stem lodging risks among winter wheat cultivars , 2003, The Journal of Agricultural Science.

[4]  A. R. Ennos,et al.  Structural development of the shoot and root systems of two winter wheat cultivars, Triticum aestivum L. , 1994 .

[5]  Moshe J. Pinthus,et al.  Lodging in Wheat, Barley, and Oats: The Phenomenon, its Causes, and Preventive Measures , 1974 .

[6]  Zhenghui Liu,et al.  Top-dressing nitrogen fertilizer rate contributes to decrease culm physical strength by reducing structural carbohydrate content in japonica rice , 2016 .

[7]  A. R. Ennos,et al.  Analysing lodging of the panicle bearing cereal teff (Eragrostis tef). , 2010, The New phytologist.

[8]  J. Griffin.  Understanding and assessing lodging risk in winter wheat , 1998 .

[9]  F. N. Dalton.  In-situ root extent measurements by electrical capacitance methods , 1995, Plant and Soil.

[10]  Paavo Pelkonen,et al.  An appraisal of the electrical resistance method for assessing root surface area , 2010, Journal of experimental botany.

[11]  R Core Team,et al.  R: A language and environment for statistical computing. , 2014 .

[12]  A. Abe,et al.  Analysis of Lodging-Resistant Characteristics of Different Rice Genotypes Grown under the Standard and Nitrogen-Free Basal Dressing Accompanied with Sparse Planting Density Practices , 2004 .

[13]  Wayne Murray,et al.  Electrical capacitance as a rapid and non-invasive indicator of root length. , 2013, Tree physiology.

[14]  Wei Wu,et al.  Integrated nutrient management (INM) for sustaining crop productivity and reducing environmental impact: a review. , 2015, The Science of the total environment.

[15]  Sacha J. Mooney,et al.  Development of a Model of Lodging for Barley , 2006 .

[16]  R. Richards,et al.  Traits and selection strategies to improve root systems and water uptake in water-limited wheat crops. , 2012, Journal of experimental botany.

[17]  A. R. Ennos,et al.  The effect of nitrogen and growth regulators on stem and root characteristics associated with lodging in two cultivars of winter wheat , 1995 .

[18]  A. Hall,et al.  Root lodging in sunflower. Variations in anchorage strength across genotypes, soil types, crop population densities and crop developmental stages , 2008 .

[19]  K. Ishimaru,et al.  Identification and Functional Analysis of a Locus for Improvement of Lodging Resistance in Rice1[w] , 2004, Plant Physiology.

[20]  Tadashi Hirasawa,et al.  New approach for rice improvement using a pleiotropic QTL gene for lodging resistance and yield , 2010, Nature communications.

[21]  P. W. Scott,et al.  Optimizing Seeding Dates and Rates for Canola Production in the Humid Eastern Canadian Agroecosystems , 2016 .

[22]  D. Jordan,et al.  Corn, Cotton, and Peanut Response to Tillage and Subsurface Drip Irrigation in North Carolina , 2014 .

[23]  Y. Gan,et al.  Brassica juncea canola in the northern great plains : Responses to diverse environments and nitrogen fertilization , 2007 .

[24]  O. Chloupek.  The relationship between electric capacitance and some other parameters of plant roots , 1972, Biologia Plantarum.

[25]  A. R. Ennos,et al.  Anchorage Mechanics of the Tap Root System of Winter-sown Oilseed Rape (Brassica napus L.) , 2001 .

[26]  E. Tsuzuki,et al.  Sterility of Thermo-Sensitive Genic Male Sterile Line, Heterosis for Grain Yield and Related Characters in F1 Hybrid Rice (Oryza sativa L.) , 2004 .

[27]  P J White,et al.  Can root electrical capacitance be used to predict root mass in soil? , 2013, Annals of botany.

[28]  S. Peng,et al.  Sheath blight reduces stem breaking resistance and increases lodging susceptibility of rice plants , 2012 .

[29]  A. R. Ennos,et al.  Understanding and Reducing Lodging in Cereals , 2004 .

[30]  S. Tojo,et al.  Increased lodging resistance in long-culm, low-lignin gh2 rice for improved feed and bioenergy production , 2014, Scientific Reports.

[31]  W. Davies,et al.  Raising yield potential of wheat. III. Optimizing partitioning to grain while maintaining lodging resistance. , 2011, Journal of experimental botany.

[32]  A. A. Pickett,et al.  Methods for Rapidly Measuring the Lodging Resistance of Wheat Cultivars , 2003 .

[33]  D. K. Biswas,et al.  Comparisons among cultivars of wheat, hulled and hulless oats: Effects of N fertilization on growth and yield , 2012 .

[34]  A. R. Ennos,et al.  The Mechanics of Root Lodging in Winter Wheat, Triticum aestivum L. , 1993 .

[35]  A. R. Ennos,et al.  The Mechanics of Anchorage in Wheat Triticum aestivum L.: II. ANCHORAGE OF MATURE WHEAT AGAINST LODGING , 1991 .

[36]  B. Ma,et al.  Timing and rates of nitrogen fertiliser application on seed yield, quality and nitrogen-use efficiency of canola , 2016, Crop and Pasture Science.

[37]  Z. Staněk,et al.  Electrical measurement of the absorption surfaces of tree roots by the earth impedance method: 1. Theory. , 2006, Tree physiology.

[38]  Mark Sterling,et al.  A calibrated model of wheat lodging compared with field measurements , 2003 .

[39]  F. Shah,et al.  Impact of high-temperature stress on rice plant and its traits related to tolerance , 2011, The Journal of Agricultural Science.

[40]  R. Rikala,et al.  The electrical impedance spectroscopy of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) shoots in relation to cold acclimation. , 2000, Journal of experimental botany.

[41]  T. Středa,et al.  Uncommon selection by root system size increases barley yield , 2013, Agronomy for Sustainable Development.

[42]  A R Ennos,et al.  Structural development and stability of rice Oryza sativa L. var. Nerica 1. , 2006, Journal of experimental botany.

[43]  D. K. Biswas,et al.  Growth, yield, and yield components of canola as affected by nitrogen, sulfur, and boron application , 2015 .

[44]  T. Středa,et al.  Improved wheat grain yield by a new method of root selection , 2014, Agronomy for Sustainable Development.