It is not always easy to find the right amount of fertilizer for wheat
crops. If too little is applied, it is completely used up, but the harvest
falls short of its full potential. And if too much is used, the harvest is
good but the growing grain does not consume all of the fertilizer. The
surplus nitrogen finds its way into the environment and damages ecosystems
and the climate. But wheat is essential for satisfying the growing hunger in
the world.



To overcome these challenges, Senthold Asseng, a professor of Digital
Agriculture at TUM, Pierre Martre (INRAE) and other researchers have
investigated new wheat cultivars still in the experimental stages. Their
results have been published in Nature Plants. The team used data from five
experimental fields representing global wheat producing regions with
particularly high yields. The fields were included into a simulation model
with other fields and analyzed under three climate scenarios: the climate
conditions of today and global warming of 1 degree Celsius and 4.8 degrees
Celsius. The results show the yields that can be expected from the tested
varieties when different quantities of nitrogen fertilizer are applied.



The researchers showed that the new wheat cultivars achieve 16 percent
higher yields under current climate conditions than those now used if the
same quantities of fertilizer are applied. Through improved utilization of
the nitrogen, i.e. greater nitrogen efficiency, the ecological footprint is
reduced. However, the team also showed that overall nitrogen needs will
increase in the course of global warming if the full yield potential of the
plants is to be achieved - although the new cultivars will still use
nitrogen more efficiently than current varieties.



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