Location:
Project Number: 3012-21000-016-009-S
Project Type: Non-Assistance Cooperative Agreement
Start Date: Jul 1, 2014
End Date: Jun 30, 2019
Objective:
The objectives of this research are to develop efficient laboratory techniques to assess hydrothermal requirements for germination and emergence; apply these techniques to measure hydrothermal response of grain-crop species; and improve crop models to more accurately predict the timing of cumulative germination and seedling emergence.
Approach:
This overall project consists of four components: 1. Application of existing osmotic water potential control systems for characterizing soil water availability; 2. Evaluation of hydrothermal germination and emergence response of diverse wheat, corn and sunflower seedlots as a function of soil texture, soil water potential, soil temperature and seeding depth; 3. Comparison of existing hydrothermal models with our hydrothermal model; 4. Improvement of existing ARS crop models for predicting cumulative germination and emergence in the field.
