Achieving high baking quality and sufficient yield is often a challenge in organic wheat production. Two varieties of winter wheat and seven varieties of spring wheat in autumn sowing (End of October) were compared regarding winter hardiness, grain yield and baking quality. The field trial was conducted between 2010 and 2013 on a sandy loam nearby Freising, Bavaria. In 2011, the results for winter hardiness were only available due to a damage of hail. With one exception spring wheat showed comparable winter hardiness to the two varieties of winter wheat. Additionally, one variety of spring wheat showed comparable grain yield and baking quality to the two varieties of winter wheat. The other six spring wheat showed either lower grain yield or lower baking quality. Hence, the one variety of spring wheat may be an alternative to winter wheat.

The four-year trial was conducted in north-western Slavonia (main arable crop producing region in Croatia) to evaluate the effects of different tillage systems on the water content of silty loam soil (Albic Luvisol) and yields of maize (Zea mays L.) and winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). The tillage systems compared were: conventional tillage; reduced conventional tillage; conservation tillage I; conservation tillage II (CM); no-tillage (NT). During the study period, there were one dry, two wet and one average season. Soil water content (SWC) was measured at 0-5, 15-20 and 30-35 cm depths on a monthly basis. Tillage systems had significant (P < 0.05) effects on SWC and yields. The highest average SWC in all seasons was measured under the NT system, followed by the CM system. In the second season, the highest yield was measured under the NT system while in all other seasons, it was under the CM system.

Wheat has been cultivated in China for at least 4000 years, but it took until 1914 in Nanjing before crossbreeding programs commenced. Wheat breeding has made substantial contribution to China's wheat production capacity over the years. Data on more than 1850 Chinese wheat varieties from the 1920s to 2014 (categorized into north winter wheat, south winter wheat and spring wheat varieties) were collected in order to (1) better understand progress in agronomic performance, (2) analyze the evolution of yield-related traits, and (3) formulate strategies for future breeding.Since the 1920s, average grain yield has increased annually by 1.29% for north winter wheat, 1.5% for south winter wheat and 0.52% for spring wheat. For north and south winter wheat, kernel number per spike and 1000-kernel weight (TKW) have increased significantly, with no change to spike number per unit area. Spike number per m2 has not changed significantly in any of the three major agro-ecological production zones. Average plant height of north winter wheat declined from the 1950s to 2000s to stabilize at 80cm; south winter wheat declined from the 1930s to 1990s to stabilize at 86cm; and spring wheat decreased from the 1960s to 1990s to stabilize at 89cm. Seedling density in both north and south winter wheat has significantly reduced, with no significant changes for spring wheat. Variability of varieties in yield and agronomic traits has declined since the 2000s.Breeding programs for wheat varieties have contributed to food security in China. Yields for north and south winter wheat have steadily increased since the 1920s, following the rule of thumb to increase TKW and kernel number per spike without changing spike number per unit area. For spring wheat, average grain yield has increased annually significantly since the 1920s, and reached its peak in the 1980s but has since decreased. Future increase in yield may be achieved through improvement in kernel size and kernel number per spike. This paper comprehensively evaluates the historical development of wheat varieties in three main agro-ecological regions of China, and will act as a guide for future wheat breeding and production technology.

Economic conditions are forcing farmers to grow crops with high revenue leading to cereal-dominated crop rotations with increasing risk due to unfavourable preceding crops or preceding crop combinations. Based on a long-term field trial (1988–2001) with 15 different rotations including winter oilseed rape (OSR), winter wheat, winter barley, spring peas and spring oats, the effects of different preceding crops, pre-preceding crops and crop rotations on the grain yield of mainly OSR, winter wheat and winter barley were quantified. In the subsequent 2 years (2001/2002 and 2002/2003), winter wheat was grown on all plots in order to test the residual effects of the former crops (as preceding crops in 2002 and as pre-preceding crops in 2003) and crop rotations on growth, grain yield and yield components. Unfavourable preceding crops significantly decreased yield of OSR, wheat and barley by 10% on average, however, with a large year-to-year variation. In addition, break-crop benefits in both crops, wheat and OSR, persisted to the second year. Wheat as preceding crop mainly decreased the thousand grain weight, and to a lesser extent, the ear density of the subsequent wheat crop. The amount of wheat yield decrease negatively correlated with the simple water balance (rainfall minus evapotranspiration) in May–July. In 2001/2002 and 2002/2003, the preceding crop superimposed the crop rotation effects, thus resulting in similar effects as observed in 1988–2001. Our results clearly reveal the importance of a favourable preceding crop for the yield performance of a crop, especially wheat and OSR.

Increasing climatic variability is projected to affect large‐scale atmospheric circulation, triggers and exacerbates more extreme weather events, including winter warming and more frequent extreme low temperatures in spring. Historical data from 1961–2000 indicate these temperature fluctuations may seriously affect grain yield of winter wheat crops. In this study, a field air temperature control system (FATC) was used to simulate the winter warming, spring cold and freezing events in the field experiment in 2010–2011 to explore their impacts on growth and yield of winter wheat. Eight elite wheat varieties released during 1961–2000 were included and four temperature scenarios were applied, including late spring freeze alone, winter warming + late spring freeze, early spring cold + late spring freeze and the normal temperature condition as control. Winter warming combined with late spring freeze significantly decreased tiller survival rate, leaf photosynthetic rate and leaf growth in wheat plants, and reduced the spike number and kernel number per spike, and the final grain yield. In contrast, the wheat plants experienced early spring cold had higher tiller survival rate, leaf photosynthetic capacity and sugar accumulation and improved tolerance to the late spring freeze, resulting in less yield loss, as compared with those without experiencing early spring cold. Both the meta‐analyses and the field experimental data demonstrated that the effects of later spring freeze stress on wheat yield were exacerbated by winter warming but were extenuated by early spring cold events. Therefore, it is important to consider the characteristics of temperature fluctuations during winter to spring for precise evaluation of climate change effects on wheat production.

Camelina (Camelina sativa L. Crantz) is a promising bioenergy crop, but a sustainable production system for this crop has not yet been well developed. There is also concern about competing land use between crop productions for bioenergy or food use. One approach to overcoming this concern and developing sustainable production systems for bioenergy crops is potentially replacing the fallow period in wheat-based cropping systems with bioenergy crops. The agronomic and economic benefits of growing camelina in rotation with winter wheat were evaluated in a replicated rotation study from 2008 to 2011 in the Northern Great Plains (NGP), focusing on the effects on wheat yield and overall profitability of the cropping system. Average winter wheat yields were 2401 and 1858kgha−1 following camelina and barley, respectively, representing a 13.2 and 32.8% winter wheat yield reduction compared to the fallow–winter wheat rotation (2766kgha−1). Lower winter wheat yield in the alternative systems were offset by 907kgha−1 camelina and 1779kgha−1 barley yields. Economic analyses revealed that at existing market prices and production costs, the traditional fallow–winter wheat rotation provides greater net returns to growers due to substantially lower variable costs of the system. Scenario analyses that use more optimized, lower cost camelina production practices show that the net profits of camelina–wheat system could be closer to those in the fallow–wheat system. However, higher grain price and/or greater grain yield of camelina are essential to attract producers to include camelina in their cropping systems. Although the fallow–wheat system resulted in higher short-run net returns, the total biomass production and crop residue return to soil is much greater in camelina–wheat than fallow–wheat rotation, which is likely to improve soil quality and productivity in the long run.

The effects of conventional and organic farming system on some quality parameters of grains were studied in winter and spring common wheat, spelt wheat and proso millet. Under organic farming conditions, spelt wheat was characterized by the most favorable grain chemical composition (essential amino acids index [EAAI] 85.3, o-dihydroxyphenol 2.00 g kg-1, nitrogen [N] 23.5 g kg-1, magnesium [Mg] 705, zinc [Zn] 32.9 mg kg-1), followed by millet (total dietary fiber [TDF] 185.3 g kg-1, Mg 904, copper [Cu] 6.27, iron [Fe] 57.0 mg kg-1). The above-mentioned cereals also showed a satisfactory yield level under the organic system (spelt wheat 2.69, proso millet 1.42 t ha-1). Both in winter and spring common wheat organic farming led a significant reduction in productivity, but the content of chemical components in grain (dihydroxyphenols—spring wheat 1.68 g kg-1, winter wheat 1.74 g kg-1; selenium [Se]—spring wheat 53.4 mg kg-1, winter wheat 40.5 mg kg-1; some amino acids—spring wheat valine [Val] 5.11, methionine [Met] 2.09, tryptophan [Trp] 0.40 g kg-1, winter wheat glutamate [Glu] 41.9, proline [Pro] 15.3, glysine [Gly] 5.24, arginine [Arg] 5.04, [Trp] 0.97 g kg-1) was more favorable compared to the conventional system. The present study showed that the organic farming system does not result in reduced productivity neither in spelt wheat or proso millet, but contributes to an improvement in their grain quality parameters. On the other hand, common wheat performed better under the conventional system.

Grain harvesting is one of the most weather-dependent processes in agriculture. Grain moisture contents decide on machinery use and costs and determine the necessary grain harvesting and preservation capacities of farms. The objective of this work is to investigate whether and how recent climate changes in the German state of Brandenburg affect the available field time and the required combine harvester capacity. Weather data, the beginning of harvesting, available hours with defined grain moisture contents and total required harvesting capacity are analyzed for the years 1961–2013 for winter wheat, winter rye, winter barley and spring barley. The trends found differ for the four cereal crops. Compared with 53 years ago, today harvesting starts significantly earlier for two cereal crops (−16 days for spring barley and −11 days for winter wheat). The available harvesting hours show a clear and highly significant increase for winter wheat (up to +9%), a distinct and highly significant decrease for winter barley (up to −20%), as well as a slight and significant decrease for winter rye (up to −3%). Inter-annual variability decreases for winter wheat and increases for winter barley. The unfavorable changes for winter barley do not ultimately affect the total required machinery capacity due to the separate harvesting period and relatively small cropping area for winter barley. In contrast, the primarily favorable trends for winter wheat lead to an increase in the total required combine harvester capacity, since the earlier harvesting period overlaps with the rye harvesting period.