Research Article

Yield and baking quality of winter wheat cultivars in different farming systems of the DOK long-term trial†

  1. Isabell Hildermann1,*,
  2. Andreas Thommen1,
  3. David Dubois2,
  4. Thomas Boller3,
  5. Andres Wiemken3,
  6. Paul Mäder1

Article first published online: 21 SEP 2009

DOI: 10.1002/jsfa.3750

Issue

Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture

Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture

Volume 89, Issue 14, pages 2477–2491, November 2009

Additional Information

How to Cite

Hildermann, I., Thommen, A., Dubois, D., Boller, T., Wiemken, A. and Mäder, P. (2009), Yield and baking quality of winter wheat cultivars in different farming systems of the DOK long-term trial. J. Sci. Food Agric., 89: 2477–2491. doi: 10.1002/jsfa.3750

Author Information

  1. 1

    Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL), Ackerstrasse, CH-5070 Frick, Switzerland

  2. 2

    Agroscope Reckenholz-Tänikon Research Station (ART), Reckenholzstrasse 191, CH-8046 Zürich, Switzerland

  3. 3

    Botanical Institute, University of Basel, Section of Plant Physiology, Hebelstrasse 1, CH-4056 Basel, Switzerland

*Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL), Ackerstrasse, CH-5070 Frick, Switzerland.

  1. †

    Parts of this paper were given as abstracts and oral presentations at the 2nd Conference of the International Society of Organic Agriculture Research (ISOFAR), Modena, Italy, 18–20 June 2008, at the Eurosoil Congress, Vienna, Austria, 25–29 August 2008 and at the 10. Wissenschaftstagung Ökologischer Landbau, Zürich, Switzerland, 11–13 February 2009.

Publication History

  1. Issue published online: 1 OCT 2009
  2. Article first published online: 21 SEP 2009
  3. Manuscript Accepted: 25 JUL 2009
  4. Manuscript Revised: 25 JUN 2009
  5. Manuscript Received: 22 APR 2009

Funded by

  • COST Switzerland

SEARCH

SEARCH BY CITATION

ARTICLE TOOLS

View Full Article (HTML) Get PDF (276K)

Keywords:

  • organic farming;
  • plant breeding;
  • winter wheat;
  • yield;
  • baking quality

Abstract

BACKGROUND: A challenge in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) breeding for organic farming is to provide high-yielding cultivars with appropriate baking qualities under the limiting conditions of organic fertiliser input and without the use of pesticides. Cultivars are usually tested on organic and conventional farms. However, field properties may differ owing to spatial variations of soils and microclimate heterogeneity. In this study, old, organically bred and conventionally bred cultivars were tested in organic and conventional farming systems of the DOK long-term system comparison trial.

RESULTS: Effects of cultivars and systems on yield and quality parameters were statistically significant. Genotype × system interactions were generally not observed. Grain yield across all cultivars increased from 4.2 Mg ha−1 under organic conditions up to 6.8 Mg ha−1 under conventional conditions, with protein contents of 90 and 117 g kg−1 respectively. Conventionally bred cultivars yielded significantly more under conventional conditions than organically bred cultivars, whereas neither organically nor conventionally bred cultivars performed better under organic conditions.

CONCLUSION: Breeding for yield was successful, but only under high-input conditions, where these successes were accompanied by rising inputs of external resources. The results of this study suggest that cultivar testing in long-term system comparisons can complement standard on-farm testing. Copyright © 2009 Society of Chemical Industry

View Full Article (HTML) Get PDF (276K)