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Differences in grain/straw ratio, protein content and yield in landraces and modern varieties of different wheat species under organic farming

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Abstract

Hulled wheat species (einkorn, emmer, spelt) are presumed to be an alternative to bread wheat in organic agriculture since the yield penalty is less pronounced under organic farming and generally higher prices can be achieved for specialty grains. The present study analyzed differences between wheat species with respect to biomass production, harvest index, grain yield and protein content. Spring hulled wheat genetic resources and bread wheat check cultivars were grown in organic field trials in the Czech Republic and Austria between 2010 and 2012. Generally, hulled wheat species were inferior in grain yield and distribution of assimilates to the grain compared to modern bread wheat. Biomass production of some emmer and spelt landraces was similar to bread wheat. A higher protein content (+3–6 %) was observed for spelt, however, considering protein yield the differences between spelt and bread wheat became less pronounced. With respect to the recent high market demand for spelt and the absence of available spring grown varieties some of the landraces were identified as valuable resources for the development of spring spelt varieties suitable for organic farming.

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Acknowledgments

Seeds of the plant genetic resources were kindly provided by the Crop Research Institute, Prague-Ruzyně. This work was funded by the National Agency for Agricultural Research of the Ministry of Agriculture of the Czech Republic (Project No. NAZV QJ1310072) and the University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice (Project No. GAJU 063/2013/Z).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Agriculture, University of South Bohemia in České Budějovice, Studentská 13, 37005, České Budějovice, Czech Republic

    Petr Konvalina & Jan Moudrý Sr.

  2. Crop Research Institute, Drnovská 507, 161 06, Praha 6-Ruzyně, Czech Republic

    Zdeněk Stehno & Dagmar Janovská

  3. Czech University of Life Sciences, Kamýcká 129, 16521, Praha 6-Suchdol, Czech Republic

    Ivana Capouchová

  4. Saatzucht Edelhof, Edelhof 1, 3910, Zwettl, Austria

    Elisabeth Zechner & Sandra Berger

  5. Department of Crop Sciences, BOKU - University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Konrad Lorenz Str. 24, 3430, Tulln, Austria

    Heinrich Grausgruber

Authors
  1. Petr Konvalina
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  2. Zdeněk Stehno
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  3. Ivana Capouchová
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  4. Elisabeth Zechner
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  8. Jan Moudrý Sr.
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Correspondence to Petr Konvalina.

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Konvalina, P., Stehno, Z., Capouchová, I. et al. Differences in grain/straw ratio, protein content and yield in landraces and modern varieties of different wheat species under organic farming. Euphytica 199, 31–40 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10681-014-1162-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10681-014-1162-9

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