Plasticity of wheat yield components in response to N fertilization

Nitrogen fertilization is one of the major issues of crop productions in west-Europe. Every year, large quantities of synthetic nitrogen are used to fertilize crops, such as winter wheat (Triticum aestivum), and ensure them high yielding conditions. In return, substantial amount of nitrogen ends up in the environment where it generates pollutions. The combination of strategic and tactical approaches has been suggested to improve the accuracy of nitrogen fertilization decisions and their implementation. Combining strategic and tactical approaches requires a detailed understanding of the dynamic of nitrogen use by the plant to both anticipate and adapt fertilization practices. Inspired by the concept of yield component phenotypic plasticity, this study aimed to analyze the influence of nitrogen fertilization dynamics on yield elaboration and infer strategic decision rules dedicated to wheat yield optimization in a Belgian context. The analysis, implemented from ten-year experiment, was conducted in two different steps. (1) We characterized the effect of nitrogen fertilization on yield and yield components when the crop was submitted to different agro-pedo-climatic contexts, (2) we analyzed the specific influence of nitrogen fertilization dynamic on yield elaboration, normalizing the variables of the experiment to exclude genetic and environmental influences. The study revealed that highest nitrogen fertilization did not automatically lead to the highest yields. High nitrogen fertilization contributed to increase the negative trade-offs between yield components, which limited the efficiency of nitrogen supplies. Conversely, a balanced dynamic of nitrogen supplies was essential to reach high yields while supplying effective amount of nitrogen. From this Belgian dataset, optimal nitrogen fertilization strategies supposed early nitrogen supplies split in two applications to support the initiation phases of grains per m² and another nitrogen supply at flag leaf stage to maintain components of grain per m² while still allowing grain filling. This fertilization structures, adapted to different pedoclimatic contexts would support strategic approach in crop nitrogen nutrition.v

The authors would like to thank the SPW-DGO3 (Public Service of Wallonia (Belgium) about agriculture, natural resources, and environment) for financial support in data production and collection through to the action program CePiCOP and the research program PIC. The authors would also like to thank the teams of the CePiCOP (Technical center for cereals and oil-protein seed crops) and the technical team of Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech, both for their leadership with field operations and data collection. Finally, authors warmly thank reviewers for their constructive remarks that helped improving the idea defended in this manuscript.