Optimizing wheat management under dry environments: a case study in the west pampas of Argentina.

ALVAREZ PRADO, S.; GASTALDI, A.; ARDUINI, J.A.; MIRALLES, D.J.

Saskatoon

Congreso; 1st International Wheat Congress; 2019

Climatic variability and extremes climatic events are responsible for one-third of the global variability in crop yields. Water shortage, caused by large variations in the amount, frequency and timing of rainfall during the crop cycle, is one of the major abiotic stresses limiting crop production. In this context, environmental variability creates significant challenges for farmers as optimal management practices vary from season to season. The aim of this study was to optimize wheat management practices considering rainfall variability in the west Pampas of Argentina. This region is characterized by predominantly summer rainfall with probable deficits in winter and early spring, and with high rainfall annual variability. Two genotypes, commonly used by farmers, with different time to flowering (LF: late flowering; EF: early flowering), under three initial soil water conditions (well-watered, moderately-watered and dry conditions) at three sowing dates were simulated for a series of 39 years. As expected, wheat yield was, in average, higher for the LF than the EF genotype (5437 vs. 5112 kg ha-1 for LF and EF, respectively; p