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ARS Home » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #91519
Title: RADIATION USE EFFICIENCY

Author
item Sinclair, Thomas
item MUCHOW, RUSSELL - CSIRO, BRISBAN3 AUSTRALIA

Submitted to: Advances in Agronomy
Publication Type: Book / Chapter
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/20/1998
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: In assessing crop growth, there has been a long standing interest in defining a variable that describes the inherent growth capability of a crop. In recent times, attention has focused on Radiation Use Efficiency (RUE), which is defined as the ratio of the accumulated crop dry weight to the cumulative amount of intercepted solar radiation (i.e. light). This review was written to examine the theoretical and experimental evidence concerning the factors that might influence RUE. While several factors can result in variable RUE, there is considerable stability in RUE within each crop species for crops grown under good conditions. Consequently, the most important factor in explaining variability in growth within a crop species is the amount of solar radiation intercepted by the crop through the growing season. Sugarcane had essentially the highest RUE because of an efficient photosynthesis mechanism and the synthesis of sugar as the main plant product. Cereals such as wheat and rice tend to have RUE of about 70% of sugarcane. Grain legumes tended to have the lowest RUE at about only half of sugarcane. Any factor that results in decreased photosynthetic capability of the crop results in decreased RUE.

Technical Abstract: Light levels have a profound influence on plant growth, as readily observed in the shady areas of a garden compared with plants in areas of full sunlight. Somewhat surprisingly then, only in recent times has considerable attention been given to investigating the quantitative relationship between crop growth and light levels. The influence of light levels on crop photosynthesis and mass accumulation was not considered explicitly until the late 1950s. Prior to this time, the focus on classical crop growth analysis seems to have inhibited a more mechanistic appraisal of crop mass accumulation.