Variety Mixtures for Healthier, more Yield-Stable Wheat Crops
Agroscope is working as a part of an international project on compiling new basic knowledge and developing predictive models to create particularly high-yielding variety mixtures of wheat. Samuel Wüst informs in an interview about the new project.
Are variety mixtures competition for breeding?
Breeding is still one of the main tools for improving production. At some point, however, there is a limit to what the individual variety can deliver. This is where mixtures can come into play. But we still need to learn more about how to create added value. Hence, the launch of the ‘PreDiMIX – Predicting and Understanding Diversity Benefits of Variety Mixtures’ Project.
What is the focus of the new project?
The project focuses inter alia on increasing yields and yield stability, as well as on disease suppression. On the one hand, we aim to gain a more fundamental understanding of positive mixing effects; on the other, we aim to develop predictive models that will enable the benefits of mixtures to be further increased.
What is the main advantage of variety mixtures?
Often there are various benefits for practitioners, e.g. a certain protection against unforeseen events such as drought stress. What’s more, increased genetic variety in the wheat field helps prevent the spread of diseases, reduce plant-protection product use and thus also achieve reduction-path targets. In Denmark and France, for example, wheat variety mixtures are already sown over a large area, and experience shows us that this is particularly effective at preventing disease epidemics.
What exactly makes variety mixtures higher-yielding than individual varieties?
Variety mixtures are higher-yielding if the individual varieties differ in terms of their demands on the environment, or vary in terms of how susceptible they are to abiotic or biotic stress factors. Here, an important aspect is that plants in the field are in strong competition for resources – competition that can be reduced through differing requirements. Alternatively, one variety can make up for shortfalls in the other variety by making use of the resources that become available.
Why are predictive models needed?
Mixtures do not automatically offer added value. By studying the traits and genetics of the ‘pure’ varieties, we hope to predict the stand-out combinations that will provide clear advantages. This would also give the mixtures the seal of Swiss social approval. In addition, the development of variety mixtures would enable a much more targeted testing in the field.
Who all are involved in the project?
Six research groups from two countries and four institutions are involved in this interdisciplinary project: Agroscope, ETH, the University of Zurich (all in Switzerland) as well as IPK Gatersleben (in Germany). The project will run for three years, and is funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) and the German Research Community (DFG).
Further information
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More information can be found on the german pages