Efficiency of grain production of winter wheat as affected by N fertilisation under particular consideration of single culm sink size

Grain yield and yield components of winter wheat were recorded during 2-year field trials in Southern Bavaria, Germany. The impact of single ear sink size on the efficiency of grain production was studied in plants differing in single ear weight. While total grain yield showed only slight differences between N fertiliser treatments, significant variations were detected in harvest index and N harvest index. For single culms, a decrease in ear weight was related to decreasing values of harvest index and N harvest index. This correlation could not be altered by means of N fertilisation. The most efficient grain production, i.e. high value of harvest index and N harvest index, was regularly recorded in plant stands developing large single ear weights. The study confirms that with increasing sink size, the efficiency of grain production in winter wheat is improved. A N fertilisation strategy, favouring the formation of a large sink size, is described. In this respect, lower N rates in early spring and emphasis on N fertilisation during stem elongation proved to be decisive. This strategy favoured the generative growth at the expense of vegetative growth without excessively decreasing the corresponding source size. © 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.