Location: Small Grains and Potato Germplasm Research
Project Number: 2050-21000-038-024-S
Project Type: Non-Assistance Cooperative Agreement
Start Date: Sep 1, 2024
End Date: Aug 31, 2025
Objective:
1. Characterize the response of oat elite germplasm to varying levels of nitrogen.
2. Identify patterns of plant response to low nitrogen.
Approach:
Profitability of oat production depends, in part, on the level of fertilizer input required to achieve optimum yield. However, most oat cultivar releases lack information on the nutrient levels needed for to maximize grain or forage yield. Ideally, minimum nutrient levels necessary for optimum yield would be available to growers at the time they purchase seed.
In addition, it is difficult for breeding programs to characterize germplasm for resilience to nutrient deficiency. This is because of the complexity of evaluating breeding lines for response to multiple nutrient scenarios in the field. Patterns of response to nutrient deficiency that could be evaluated under a controlled environment, yet are correlated with field response, could be used to facilitate more efficient selection.
This project will evaluate a curated set of elite oat germplasm from North American breeding programs for field response to a nitrogen availability gradient consisting of four to five levels, depending on seed volume. Germplasm will be compared for plant morphology (for example height, canopy density, seed per panicle, lodging etc.) and grain yield response to nitrogen level. Pattern of response, in terms of biomass partitioning, morphology and per-plant yield observed in previous greenhouse studies, will be compared with patterns of response in the field.
