Mitigating yield losses due to lodging of cereal crops

Sterling, M.; Baker, C.; Joseph, G.; Gillmeier, S.; Mohammadi, M.; Blackburn, G.; Wyatt, D.; Gullick, D.; Berry, P.; Hatley, D.; Spink, J.; Finan, J.; Miao, Y.; Thanda, D.; Sonder, K.

Abstract

High winds and rainfall can cause crop lodging, the permanent displacement of plant stems from their vertical position either as root lodging, where the plant root system fails, or as stem lodging, where the stem fails at some point above the ground. Lodging can cause major losses in yield for a wide range of cereal crops, and can significantly reduce the quality of the yield. A modelling framework for understanding lodging was developed by some of the authors in the early 2000s, and successfully applied to the lodging of winter wheat. Currently the authors are engaged in three projects to investigate lodging behaviour in different crops –the first in the Republic of Ireland to investigate oat lodging; the second to investigate the lodging of oilseed rape in the U.K.; and the third to investigate maize and rice lodging in the U.K., China and Mexico. A generalised modelling framework for crops in high winds has recently been developed that identifies the regions in the daily rainfall / mean wind speed parameter space for which lodging of different types occurs. This paper outlines this model and describes the two ways in which it can be used – in a risk assessment mode for a particular site or in a time history mode over a large spatial area, the latter leading to the development of the CROPFALL methodology. The results of preliminary experiments to measure the wide range of crop, soil and environmental parameters required for the generalised model are described, and show significant variations in the dynamic behaviour of
different types of crop. Finally, future work on each of the three projects is briefly outlined.

Citation

Sterling, M., Baker, C., Joseph, G., Gillmeier, S., Mohammadi, M., Blackburn, G., …Sonder, K. (2018, March). Mitigating yield losses due to lodging of cereal crops. Paper presented at International Workshop on Wind-Related Disasters and Mitigation Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan

• Presentation Conference Type: Conference Paper (unpublished)
• Conference Name: International Workshop on Wind-Related Disasters and Mitigation Tohoku University
• Conference Location: Sendai, Japan.
• Start Date: Mar 11, 2018
• End Date: Mar 14, 2018
• Deposit Date: Mar 15, 2022
• Keywords: Wind effects on cereal crops, lodging, yield loss, field tests, modelling
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1136820