Source: TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY submitted to NRP
IMPROVING WATER USE AND STRESS TOLERANCE IN MAJOR CROPS IN THE TEXAS HIGH PLAINS
Sponsoring Institution
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Project Status
COMPLETE
Funding Source
HATCH
Reporting Frequency
Annual
Accession No.
1010537
Grant No.
(N/A)
Cumulative Award Amt.
(N/A)
Proposal No.
(N/A)
Multistate No.
(N/A)
Project Start Date
Jan 6, 2017
Project End Date
Jan 6, 2022
Grant Year
(N/A)
Program Code
[(N/A)]- (N/A)
Recipient Organization
TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY
750 AGRONOMY RD STE 2701
COLLEGE STATION,TX 77843-0001
Performing Department
Amarillo-TAMU Agr Res Center
Non Technical Summary
The Texas High Plains is one of the most productive agricultural regions in the U.S. The economic value of annual total crop production in the area is over $1.3 billion. The area has a semi-arid climate with annual precipitation ranging from 380 to 580 mm, averaging about 480 mm. For field crop production, drought is the most common factor limiting yield and water use efficiency (WUE). In addition, other biotic (e.g., diseases, insects and weeds) and abiotic (e.g., cold, heat, nutrient deficiency, etc.) stresses also affect crop production and WUE. The overall goal of this project is to increase crop yield and maximize water use efficiency (WUE) under water-limited conditions in the Texas High Plains. The objective is to enhance the understanding of crop-climate-soil interaction and optimize crop water use and WUE through the identification of new and improved cultivars/species, and best management practices. Field, greenhouse and laboratory experiments will be planned to achieve the objectuive and address major issues related to improvement of crop water use, WUE and stress tolerance.
Animal Health Component
40%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
60%
Applied
40%
Developmental
(N/A)
Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)Subject of Investigation (SOI)Field of Science (FOS)Percent
20324101020100%
Knowledge Area
203 - Plant Biological Efficiency and Abiotic Stresses Affecting Plants;

Subject Of Investigation
2410 - Cross-commodity research--multiple crops;

Field Of Science
1020 - Physiology;
Goals / Objectives
GoalThe overall goal of this project is to improve crop yield, stress tolerance and WUE in the Texas High Plains. To accomplish the overall goal, experiments will be conducted to understand physiological mechanisms under abiotic stresses, identify plant traits and quantitative trait loci (QTLs), identify improved cultivars/species, and develop best management practices.ObjectivesThe following objectives outline an overarching research framework in which field, greenhouse and laboratory experiments will be planned to address major issues related to improvement of crop water use, WUE and abiotic stress tolerance. The research activities will address the following objectives:1. Understand physiological mechanisms for improved abiotic stress tolerance and increased water use efficiency (WUE)2. Identify plant traits conferring stress tolerance and increased WUE3. Develop phenotyping tools for screening stress tolerance and WUE4. Optimize crop water use and WUE through the identification of new and improved cultivars/species, best management practices, and cropping systems
Project Methods
Field, greenhouse and laboratory experiments will be conducted to address major issues related to improvement of crop water use, WUE and abiotic stress tolerance in major crops in the Texas High Plains, including wheat, corn, sorghum, and other alternative crops. Various physiological and agronimic data will be collected during experiments. The results will be analyzed using appropriate statistical methods.

Progress 10/01/19 to 09/30/20

Outputs
Target Audience:Researchers, producers, extension professionals, crop consultants, policy makers, non-profit organizations. Changes/Problems:None What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Undergraduate and graduate students,and post-docs have been working in research projects. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The research data have been presented in international, national and regional conferences producers' meetings, and field days. Most of these meetings are virtual this year. However, there are a few occasions that the collobrators were in the open field plots. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Continue to conduct field, lab and green house research.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Irrigated Corn - Corn is the major irrigated crop in the North Texas High Plains and the irrigation uses 53% of the entire water budget annually (1.43 million ac-ft, 1 ac-ft = 325,851 gallons) in the region. However, the declining water table along irrigation pumping restrictions by water districts will challenge the sustainable corn production. Field experiments are continuously conducted in different hybrids under various irrigation conditions from full irrigation to limited irrigation. Corn was grown under both drip irrigation and center pivot sprinkler irrigation systems. This is the second-year field study for an Ogallala Aquifer Program funded project entitled "Improve Yield and Water Use Efficiency in Delayed-planting Corn under Limited Irrigation". The Texas Corn Producers Board is also partially supported this project. The treatments include planting date (normal vs. delayed planting), hybrids (relative maturity: long season vs. short season; with or without drought tolerance trait), and irrigation levels (100%, 75% and 50% ET requirements). Field data collections included leaf are index, biomass accumulation, soil water dynamics, yield and yield components. Most of field data collection was completed even under the global COVID-19 pandemic conditions. In addition to irrigation, planting date and hybrid both affected corn yield, water use and WUE. Relatively delaying planting from mid-May to late June resulted in less irrigation and may increase WUE. In this year, we published two journal articles in corn research in Agronomy Journal and Crop Science. The article in Crop Science (Jiang et al., 2020, Corn response to later than traditional planting dates in the Texas High Plains. Crop Science, 60) was featured in CSA News. The research in this article was conducted under full irrigation conditions and the results demonstrated that relatively delaying corn planting can potentially sustain corn yield and reduce irrigation requirements. These findings could lead to reducing water withdrawals from the Ogallala Aquifer while maintaining sustainable irrigated crop production. Our current corn planting date study extended the irrigation levels from full irrigation to limited irrigation treatments. As such, we will be able to better understand the interactions of irrigation, planting date and hybrid. Wheat - Drought stress is the single most important factor for reducing wheat yields and water use efficiency (WUE) in the US Southern Great Plains. Developing drought tolerant wheat cultivars is a critical strategy for wheat management under water limited conditions. As such, our goal is to provide selection tools for breeders and geneticists and management tools for producers, through better understanding the physiological mechanisms of crop performance under drought stress conditions. Our results from field experiments showed that cooler canopy temperature and deep rooting are specifically helpful for wheat plants to obtain high yield under drought stress. In addition, early growth and biomass accumulation can improve root and shoot growth. As such, it is possible to phenotype wheat populations with high throughput techniques such as using UAV. In a field study in Southern Texas, our results showed that UAVs imaging and automated data extraction can facilitate the acquisition of high throughput phenotyping data for disease severity ratings. In the Texas High Plains, field data collected from UAV showed that the sensors carried by UAV can be used to characterize drought tolerant wheat genotypes with high throughput. Vegetables - In the Texas High Plains, hot and windy weather conditions can result in high evapotranspiration (ET) demands for crop production. Irrigation is essential for vegetable production in the region, but it is constrained by depleting groundwater from the Ogallala Aquifer. High-tunnel (HT) production systems may reduce irrigation water demand and protect crops from severe weather events (e.g., hail, high wind, freezing) common to the region. We conducted 2-year field study and the objective was to compare yields, fruit quality, crop water use, and crop water use efficiency (WUE) of jalapeno pepper (Capsicum annuumL.) and tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicumL.) in HT and open field (OF) production systems. We hypothesized that the protection from dry and high winds by HT would improve yields and quality of fruits and reduce water use of peppers and tomatoes. During the 2018 and 2019 growing seasons, peppers and tomatoes were transplanted on two HT plots and two identical OF plots. Plastic mulch was used in combination with a surface drip irrigation system. Micrometeorological variables (incoming solar irradiance, air temperature, relative humidity, and wind speed) and soil physical variables (soil temperature and volumetric soil water) were measured. Air temperatures were significantly higher during the daytime, and wind speed and light intensity were significantly lower in HT compared with OF. Despite the lower light intensity, yields were greater in HT compared with OF. The fruits grown in HT did not show significant differences in chemical quality attributes, such as ascorbic acid and lycopene contents, compared with those grown in OF. Because of protection from dry, high winds, plants in HT required less total water over the growing seasons compared with OF, resulting in increased WUE. The 2018 and 2019 data showed that HT production is advantageous as compared to conventional OF production in terms of increased WUE and severe weather risk mitigation for high-value vegetable production in the Texas High Plains. Forage sorghum - Different types of sorghum hybrids were grown under limited irrigation conditions to evaluate phenology, forage yield, agronomic characters, and forage quality. The information is very important for producers in the Texas High Plains for selecting top hybrids for high forage yield and quality. Sesame - A field trial was conducted at Bushland, TX to evaluate crop establishment and yield in 10 sesame genotypes under dryland and irrigated conditions. Due to the dry and hot conditions in late June, sesame stands were not ideal but acceptable. Sesame plants were well adapted to the environmental conditions in the Texas Panhandle. Grain yield ranged from 300 to 1,000 lb/ac, depending on genotype and water regime. In some genotypes, yield has no difference between dryland and irrigated treatment. This is the first year to evaluate sesame in our program (second year at Bushland). Sesame seemed a very drought tolerant crop.

Publications

  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Bhandari, M., A. M. H. Ibrahim, Q. Xue, J. Jung, A. Chang, J. C. Rudd, M. Maeda, N. Rajan, H. Neely, and J. Landivar. 2020. Assessing winter wheat foliage disease severity using aerial imagery acquired from small Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV). Computers and Electronics in Agriculture 176: 105665.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Carr, P. M., and Q. Xue. 2020. Introduction: Water, soil, crops, and people in a changing climate: the agronomic legacy of Dr. B.A. Stewart. Agronomy J. 112: 32233226. DOI: 10.1002/agj2.20262.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Jiang, W., S. Thapa, K. Jessup, B. Hao, X. Hou, T. Marek, J. Becker, J. Bell, and Q. Xue. 2020. Corn response to later than traditional planting dates in the Texas High Plains. Crop Sci. 60: 1004-1020. DOI: 10.1002/csc2.20042
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Rho, H., P. Colaizzi, J. Gray, L. Paetzold, Q. Xue, B. Patil, and C. Rush. 2020. Yields, Fruit Quality, and Water Use in a Jalapeno Pepper and Tomatoes under Open Field and High-tunnel Production Systems in the Texas High Plains. HortScience 1 (aop), 1-10.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Shrestha, R., S. Thapa, Q. Xue, B. A. Stewart, B. C. Blaser, E. K. Ashiadey, J. C. Rudd, and R. N. Devkota. 2020. Winter wheat response to climate change under irrigated and dryland conditions in the US southern High Plains. J. Soil and Water Conservation 75: 112-122.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Thapa, S., Q. Xue, and B. A. Stewart. 2020. Alternative planting geometries reduce production risk in corn and sorghum in water-limited environments. Agronomy J. 112: 33223334. DOI: 10.1002/agj2.20347.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Thapa, S., Q. Xue, K. E. Jessup, J. C. Rudd, S. Liu, R. N. Devkota, and J. A. Baker. 2020. Soil water extraction and use by winter wheat cultivars under limited irrigation in a semi-arid environment. Journal of Arid Environments 174: 104046
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Thapa, S., Q. Xue, T. H. Marek, W. Xu, D. Porter, and K. E. Jessup. 2020. Corn production under restricted irrigation in the Texas High Plains. Agronomy J. 112:11901200. https://doi.org/10.1002/agj2.20003.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Cerit, M., Z. Wang, J.L., Valenzuela-Antelo, M. Dogan, C. Chu, X. Liu, J.A. Avila, B.M. Ehrlich, K. Hui, S. Wang, R. Metz, C. Johnson, J. Baker, S. Baker, R. Devkota, G. Opena, B. Simoneaux, Q. Xue, A.M.H. Ibrahim, J.C. Rudd and S.-Y. Liu. 2020. QTL mapping for Hessian fly resistance and yield component in hexaploid wheat. ASA-CSSA-SSSA, International Annual Meetings, Nov. 9-13, 2020 (Virtual).
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Hinson, P. O., C. Adams, Q. Xue, S. Thapa, X. Dong, G. Feng, C. B. Neely, and F. Guillen-Portal. 2020. Identifying Wheat Traits Associated with Consistently High Grain Protein Concentration in the Southern Great Plains. ASA-CSSA-SSSA, International Annual Meetings, Nov. 9-13, 2020 (Virtual).
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Liu., S., S. Dhakal, X. Liu, C. Chu, J. A. Avila, K. Hui, Q. Xue, J. C. Rudd, A. M.H. Ibrahim, S. Wang, R. Metz, C. Johnson, K. Jessup, J. A. Baker, R. N. Devkota, and S. Baker. 2020. Identify Favorable Alleles from Texas Popular Cultivars and Synthetic Wheat Using Bi-Parental and Association Analyses. ASA-CSSA-SSSA, International Annual Meetings, Nov. 9-13, 2020 (Virtual).
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Thapa, S., Q. Xue, J. M. Bell, T. H. Marek, G. W. Marek, K. Jessup, C. Naylor, and K. D. Heflin. 2020. Yield, Water Use, and Water Use Efficiency in Delayed-Planting Corn Under Limited Irrigation. ASA-CSSA-SSSA, International Annual Meetings, Nov. 9-13, 2020 (Virtual).
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Wang, Z., M. Cerit, J.L., Valenzuela-Antelo, M. Dogan, C. Chu, X. Liu, J.A. Avila, B.M. Ehrlich, K. Hui, S. Wang, R. Metz, C. Johnson, J. Baker, S. Baker, R. Devkota, G. Opena, B. Simoneaux, Q. Xue, A.M.H. Ibrahim, J.C. Rudd, and S. Liu. 2020. QTL for yield and yield components in Texas and Oklahoma wheat using TAM 112/Duster ASA-CSSA-SSSA, International Annual Meetings, Nov. 9-13, 2020 (Virtual).
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Wang, Z., X. Liu, C. Chu, M. S. Wang, S. Dhakal, Y. Yang, Q. Xue, J.C. Rudd, A.M.H. Ibrahim, D. Hays, J. Baker, K. Jessup, R. Devkota, S. Baker, K. Hui, G. Opena, R. Metz, C. Johnson, and S.-Y. Liu. 2020. Association analyses for yield components and end-use quality in synthetic derived and adapted winter wheat lines and model selections for genomic prediction. National Association of Plant Breeders. Aug. 16-19, Lincoln, NE. USA.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Xue, Q., S. Thapa, K. Jessup, S. Liu, J. C. Rudd, J. M. Bell, S. Baker, J. Baker, and R. N. Devkota. 2020. Genetic Improvement Contributed to Increased Yield and Water Use Efficiency in Wheat Under Water-Limited Conditions - a Long-Term Study. ASA-CSSA-SSSA, International Annual Meetings, Nov. 9-13, 2020 (Virtual).


Progress 10/01/18 to 09/30/19

Outputs
Target Audience:Researchers, producers, extension professionals, crop consultants, policy makers, non-profit organizations. Changes/Problems:None. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Undergraduate and graduate students,and post-docs have been working in research projects. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The research data have been presented in international, national and regional conferences producers' meetings, and field days. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Continue field and greenhouse studies.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Irrigated Corn - Corn is the major irrigated crop in the North Texas High Plains and the irrigation uses 53% of the entire water budget annually (1.43 million ac-ft, 1 ac-ft = 325,851 gallons) in the region. However, the declining water table along irrigation pumping restrictions by water districts will challenge the sustainable corn production. Field experiments are continuously conducted in different hybrids under various irrigation conditions from full irrigation to limited irrigation. Corn was grown under both drip irrigation and center pivot sprinkler irrigation systems. This is the first-year field study for an Ogallala Aquifer Program funded project entitled "Improve Yield and Water Use Efficiency in Delayed-planting Corn under Limited Irrigation". The treatments include planting date (normal vs. delayed planting), hybrids (relative maturity: long season vs. short season; with or without drought tolerance trait), and irrigation levels (100%, 75% and 50% ET requirements). Field data collections included leaf are index, biomass accumulation, soil water dynamics, yield and yield components. The initial results demonstrated that hybrids and irrigation are still important for corn yield and water use efficiency regardless of planting date. In addition, delaying planting resulted in greater yield under limited irrigation conditions in this season. Wheat - Drought stress is the single most important factor for reducing wheat yields and water use efficiency (WUE) in the US Southern Great Plains. Developing drought tolerant wheat cultivars is a critical strategy for wheat management under water-limited conditions. As such, our goal is to provide selection tools for breeders and geneticists and management tools for producers, through better understanding the physiological mechanisms of crop performance under drought stress conditions. Our results from field experiments showed that cooler canopy temperature and deep rooting are specifically helpful for wheat plants to obtain high yield under drought stress. In addition, early growth and biomass accumulation can improve root and shoot growth. As such, it is possible to phenotype wheat populations with high throughput techniques such as using UAV. Contrast to 2018 season, 2019 was an ideal season for dryland wheat due to the average rainfall and cool temperature during grain filling. The dryland wheat yield was up to 70 bu/ac in some new varieties. The unique weather conditions in last two wheat growing seasons in the High Plains provided us a great opportunity to evaluate cultivar differences in dryland wheat. The genetic differences in drought tolerance among TAM wheat germplasm are extremely important for breeding programs in the US Southern Great Plains. Dryland corn and sorghum - Due to the crop failure in 2018, dryland corn trial was repeated in 2019. The field experiments at Bushland were moderately successful. Although there was sufficient soil water storage due to the rain event in the spring, dry and hot in summer months still resulted in significant drought conditions for dryland corn. This provided a good opportunity to evaluate drought tolerance in different corn hybrids. The dryland grain sorghum production was greater than previous years due to more soil moisture. The results from last two years indicated that planting date has significant effect on crop performance in both corn and sorghum. Bioenergy sorghum - This is the second year for the bioenergy sorghum trial at Bushland, TX and Coby, KS. We grew 6 photoperiod sensitive bioenergy sorghum hybrids in 3 water regimes (full irrigation, limited irrigation, and dryland). The 2019 season provided another excellent opportunity to evaluate drought tolerance and WUE in bioenergy sorghum. There were significant differences in biomass yield, drought tolerance, and WUE among hybrids at both locations.

Publications

  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Chen, Y., G. W. Marek, T. H. Marek, P. H. Gowda, Q. Xue, J. E. Moorhead, D. K. Brauer, R. Srinivasan, and K. R. Heflin. 2019. Multisite evaluation of an improved SWAT irrigation scheduling algorithm for corn (Zea mays L.) production in the US Southern Great Plains. Environmental Modelling & Software 118: 23-34
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Chen, Y., G.W. Marek, T.H. Marek, Q. Xue, D.K. Brauer, R. Srinivasan. 2019. Assessing the Plant Stress Algorithms in SWAT using Corn (Zea mays L.) under Full and Limited Irrigation. Agronomy J. 111: 1266-1280.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Hao, B., Q. Xue*, T. Marek, K. Jessup, X. Hou, W. Xu, E. Bynum, B. Bean, P. Colaizzi, and T. Howell. 2019. Grain yield, evapotranspiration, and water use efficiency of maize hybrids differing in drought tolerance. Irrigation Science 37: 25-34.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Kothari, K., S. Ale, A. Attia, N. Rajan, Q. Xue, C. L. Munster. 2019. Potential climate change adaptation strategies for winter wheat production in the Texas High Plains. Agricultural Water Management 225: 105764
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Liu, X., S. J. Feakins, X. Dong, Q. Xue, J. Han, T. H. Marek, D. I. Leskovar, C. B. Neely, and A. M. H. Ibrahim. 2019. Evaluating leaf wax and bulk leaf carbon isotope surrogates for water use efficiency and grain yield in winter wheat. Crop Science 59: 718-732.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Peng, B., X. Liu, X. Dong, Q. Xue, C. B. Neely, T. H. Marek, A. M. H. Ibrahim, G. Zhang, D. I. Leskovar, and J. C. Rudd. 2019. Root morphological traits of winter wheat under contrasting environments. J. Agron. Crop Sci. 205: 571-585.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Rudd, J. C., R. N. Devkota, A. M. Ibrahim, J. A. Baker, S. Baker, R. Sutton, B. Simoneaux, G. Opena, D. Hathcoat, J. M. Awika, L. R. Nelson, S. Liu, Q. Xue, B. Bean, C. B. Neely, R. W. Duncan, B. W. Seabourn, R. L. Bowden, Y. Jin, M. Chen, R. A. Graybosch. 2019. TAM 204Wheat, Adapted to Grazing, Grain, and Graze-out Production Systems in the Southern High Plains. J. Plant Registrations 13: 377-382.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Thapa, S., J. C. Rudd, Q. Xue*, M. Bhandari, S. K Reddy, K. E. Jessup, S. Liu, R. N. Devkota, J. Baker, and S. Baker. 2019. Use of NDVI for characterizing winter wheat response to water stress in a semi-arid environment. J. Crop Improvement 33: 633-648.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Thapa, S., Q. Xue*, K. Jessup, J.C. Rudd, S.-Y. Liu, T. H. Marek, R.N. Devkota, J. Baker, and S. Baker. 2019. Yield determination in winter wheat under different water regimes. Field Crops Research 233: 80-87.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Yang, Y., B.R. Basnet, A.M.H. Ibrahim, J.C. Rudd, X. Chen, R.L. Bowden, Q. Xue, R.D. Devkota, S. Wang, C.D. Johnson, R. Metz, R.E. Mason, D.B. Hays and S-Y. Liu. 2018. Developing KASP markers on a major stripe rust resistance QTL in a popular wheat TAM 111 using 90K array and genotyping-by-sequencing SNPs. Crop Science 59: 165-175.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Zhao, J., Q. Xue*, B. Hao, T. H. Marek, K. E. Jessup, W. Xu, B. W. Bean, and P. D Colaizzi. 2019.Yield determination of maize hybrids under limited irrigation. J. Crop Improvement 33: 410-427.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Bhandari, M., A. M. Ibrahim, Q. Xue, H. Neely, N. Rajan, J. Jung, M. Maeda, J. C. Rudd, S. Baker, J. Landivar, B. Simoneaux, G. Opena, and A. Adhikari. 2019. Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) for field-based high-throughput phenotyping in wheat. The 1st International Wheat Congress, July 21-26, 2019, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Bhandari, M., A. M. Ibrahim, Q. Xue, J. Jung, A. Chang, H. Neely, N. Rajan, M. Maeda, J. Rudd, S. Baker, J. Landivar, A. Adhikari, B. Simoneaux, and G. Opena. 2019. Assessing the seasonal crop growth dynamics of wheat genotypes using multi-spectral imaging. Nebraska Plant Science Symposium 2019, March 12, 2019, Lincoln, NE.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Bhandari, M., A. M. Ibrahim, S. Baker, A. Chang, J. Jung, J. C. Rudd, Q. Xue, H. Neely, and J. Landivar. 2019. Use of unmanned aerial vehicle (UAVs) based features to predict yield in winter wheat. Texas Small Grains Workers Meeting, August 28-29, 2019, College Station, Texas.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Chu C., X. Liu, K. Hui, J.A. Avila, B. Ehrlich, J.C. Rudd, A. Ibrahim, Q. Xue, S. Wang, A. Szczepaniec, S. Liu. Developing hard winter wheat germplasm with new resistance to multiple arthropods using primary synthetics and exome capture. The 2019. Annual Meeting of National Association of Plant Breeders, August 25-30, Pine Mountain, GA.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Bhandari, M., A. M.H. Ibrahim, S. Baker, A. Chang, J. C. Rudd, Q. Xue, H. L. Neely, N. Rajan, J. Jung, J. Landivar, and M. M. Maeda. 2019. Yield prediction of winter wheat genotypes based on unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) aerial imagery. ASA-CSSA-SSSA, 2019 International Annual Meetings, Nov. 10-13, 2019, San Antonio, TX.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Chu C., S. Wang, H. Dong, R.N. Devkota, J.A. Baker, S. Baker, X Liu, J.C. Rudd, A.M.H. Ibrahim, Q. Xue, Z.S. Zhang and S. Liu. 2019. Association analysis in Texas elite breeding lines to identify gene and loci affecting grain yield and resistance to arthropods. ASA-CSSA-SSSA International Annual Meeting. Nov 10-13., San Antonio, TX. Also presented in the Texas Small Grain Workers Meeting on August 28, 2019 in College Station Texas.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Olanrewaju, S. A., N. Rajan, A. M. H. Ibrahim, J. C. Rudd, S. Liu, R. Sui, K. E. Jessup, and Q. Xue*. 2019. Using aerial imagery and digital photography to monitor growth and yield in winter wheat. International J. Remote Sensing 40: 6905-6929.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Chu, C., S. Wang, Q. Xue, J. C. Rudd, A.M.H. Ibrahim, and S. Liu. 2019. RNAseq analysis to identify genes responsible to drought tolerance in wheat cultivars TAM 111 and TAM 112. 1st International Wheat Congress, July 21-26, 2019, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Dogan, M., J.L. Valenzuela-Antelo, S. Dhakal, A. Girard, C. Chu, X. Liu, J.A. Avila, B.M. Ehrlich, K. Hui, P.S Amand, G. Bai, S.Wang, J. Baker, S. Baker, R. Devkota, G. Opena, B. Simoneaux, Q. Xue, A.M.H. Ibrahim, J.C. Rudd and S. Liu. 2019. QTL analysis of end-use quality in a mapping population from two Texas wheat. ASA-CSSA-SSSA International Annual Meeting. Nov 10-13., San Antonio, TX. Also presented in the Texas Small Grain Workers Meeting on August 28, 2019 in College Station Texas and Texas Association of Plant Protection meeting on Dec 10, 2019.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Feng, G., X. Dong, P. Hinson, Q. Xue, C. Adams, and C. Neely. 2019. Can leaf osmotic potential indicate drought tolerance in winter wheat? Texas Small Grains Workers Meeting, August 28-29, 2019, College Station, Texas.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Feng, G., X. Dong, Q. Xue, C. Adams, and C. Neely. 2019. Using the osmometer method to quantify drought tolerance of winter wheat under field conditions. ASA-CSSA-SSSA, 2019 International Annual Meetings, Nov. 10-13, 2019, San Antonio, TX.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Heflin, K., J. M. Bell, A. Walton, B. C. Blaser, and Q. Xue. 2019. The effect of weed pressure on limited irrigated corn grain production in the Texas High Plains. ASA-CSSA-SSSA, 2019 International Annual Meetings, Nov. 10-13, 2019, San Antonio, TX.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Kothari, K., S. Ale, A. Attia, N. Rajan, Q. Xue, and C. Munster. 2019. Winter wheat production in the Texas High Plains under changing climate: potential impacts and adaptations. ASA-CSSA-SSSA, 2019 International Annual Meetings, Nov. 10-13, 2019, San Antonio, TX.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Liu S.Y., C. Chu, J.C. Rudd, A. Ibrahim, Q. Xue, X. Xu, M.-S. Chen, S. Wang, R. Metz, C. Johnson, J. Baker, R. Devkota, J.A. Avila, K. Hui, S. Baker and X. Liu. Transfer new sources of resistance to three pest resistance simultaneously into local adapted cultivar TAM 114. ASA-CSSA-SSSA International Annual Meeting. Nov 10-13., San Antonio, TX. Also presented in the Texas Small Grain Workers Meeting on August 28, 2019 in College Station Texas.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Liu, S., C. Chu, Rudd, J. C., A.M.H. Ibrahim, Q. Xue, X. Xu, M. Chen, S. Wang, R. Metz, C. Johnson, J. Baker, R. Devkota, J. Avila, K. Hui, S. Baker, and X. Liu. 2019. Identification of new sources of resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses and linked KASP marker development. The 1st International Wheat Congress, July 21-26, 2019, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Liu, S.,C. Chu, J. C. Rudd, A. M. H. Ibrahim, Q. Xue, X. Xu, M.-S. Chen, S. Wang, R. Metz, C. Johnson, J. A. Baker, R. N. Devkota, J. A. Avila, K. Hui, S. Baker, and X. Liu. 2019. Transfer new sources of resistance to three pest resistance simultaneously into local adapted cultivars. ASA-CSSA-SSSA, 2019 International Annual Meetings, Nov. 10-13, 2019, San Antonio, TX.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Rho, H., P. D. Colaizzi, Q. Xue, and R. M. Rush. 2019. Acclimation of leaf physiological traits under high-tunnel production system increases radiation and water use efficiency in tomatoes and peppers. ASA-CSSA-SSSA, 2019 International Annual Meetings, Nov. 10-13, 2019, San Antonio, TX.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Rho, H., P. D. Colaizzi, Q. Xue, and R. M. Rush. 2019. High-Tunnels increase water use efficiency of peppers and tomatoes compared with open field production in a semi-arid, windy climate. 2019 American Society of Horticultural Science (ASHS) Annual Conference, July 21-25, 2019, Las Vegas, Nevada.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Rudd J.C., A.M.H. Ibrahim, Q. Xue, S. Liu, A. Girard and J. Awika. 2019. Development of high yielding synthetic-derived winter wheat in Texas. ASA-CSSA-SSSA International Annual Meeting. Nov 10-13., San Antonio, TX.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Rudd, J. C., A.M.H. Ibrahim, Q. Xue, S. Liu, A. Girard, and J. Awika. 2019. Development of high yielding synthetic-derived winter wheat in Texas. The 1st International Wheat Congress, July 21-26, 2019, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Shrestha, R., S. Thapa, Q. Xue, B. A Stewart, J. C. Rudd, and R. N. Devkota. 2019. Climate change impacts on early heading and yield in winter wheat in the Texas High Plains. Texas Small Grains Workers Meeting, August 28-29, 2019, College Station, Texas.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Valenzuela-Antelo, J. L., A.M.H. Ibrahim, C. Chu, X. Liu, M. Dogan, J. A. Avila, B. M. Ehrlich, K. Hui, S. Wang, R. Metz, C. Johnson, Q. Xue, G. Opena, B. Simoneaux, M. J. Thomson, J. A. Baker, S. Baker, J. C. Rudd, and S. Liu. 2019. Mapping traits adaptive to the U.S. Southern and Central Great Plains in a TAM 204/Iba population. ASA-CSSA-SSSA, 2019 International Annual Meetings, Nov. 10-13, 2019, San Antonio, TX.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Xue, Q., S. Thapa, K. E. Jessup, J. C. Rudd, S. Liu, J. Bell, S. Baker, J. Baker, and R. N. Devkota. 2019. Effect of climatic variability on irrigated wheat yield in the U.S. Southern Great Plains. Texas Small Grains Workers Meeting, August 28-29, 2019, College Station, Texas.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Xue, Q., S. Thapa, K. E. Jessup, T. H. Marek, and J. M. Bell. 2019. corn response to limited irrigation in the Texas High Plains. ASA-CSSA-SSSA, 2019 International Annual Meetings, Nov. 10-13, 2019, San Antonio, TX.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Xue, Q., T. H. Marek, K. E. Jessup, S. Thapa, W. Xu, and J. Bell. 2019. Improving drought tolerance and water use efficiency of maize in a semiarid environment. 3rd Agriculture and Climate Change Conference, March 24-26, 2019, Budapest, Hungary.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Thapa, S., Q. Xue, K. E. Jessup, J. C. Rudd, S-Y. Liu, J. Bell, S. Baker, J. Baker, and R. N. Devkota. 2019. Soil water extraction: A key for drought tolerance in winter wheat. Texas Small Grains Workers Meeting, August 28-29, 2019, College Station, Texas.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Thapa, S., Q. Xue, K. Jessup, R. M. Aiken, J. M. Bell, and W. L. Rooney. 2019. Yield and water use efficiency of biomass sorghum under different water regimes. ASA-CSSA-SSSA, 2019 International Annual Meetings, Nov. 10-13, 2019, San Antonio, TX.


Progress 10/01/17 to 09/30/18

Outputs
Target Audience:Researchers, producers, extension professionals, crop consultants, policy makers, non-profit organizations. Changes/Problems:No changes and problems in our projects. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Undergraduate and graduate students,and post-docshave been working in research projects. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The research data have been presented in international, national and regional conferences producers' meetings, and field days. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Continue field and greenhouse studies.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Corn - Corn is the major irrigated crop in the North Texas High Plains and the irrigation uses 53% of the entire water budget annually (1.43 million ac-ft, 1 ac-ft = 325,851 gallons) in the region. However, the declining water table along irrigation pumping restrictions by water districts will challenge the sustainable corn production. Field experiments are continuously conducted in different hybrids under various irrigation conditions from full irrigation to limited irrigation. Corn was grown under both drip irrigation and center pivot sprinkler irrigation systems. Our results demonstrated that effective use of soil water during grain filling is important for maintaining high yield under water limited conditions. Wheat - Drought stress is the single most important factor for reducing wheat yields and water use efficiency (WUE) in the US Southern Great Plains. Developing drought tolerant wheat cultivars is a critical strategy for wheat management under water-limited conditions. As such, our goal is to provide selection tools for breeders and geneticists and management tools for producers, through better understanding the physiological mechanisms of crop performance under drought stress conditions. Our results from field experiments showed that cooler canopy temperature and deep rooting are specifically helpful for wheat plants to obtain high yield under drought stress. In addition, early growth and biomass accumulation can improve root and shoot growth. As such, it is possible to phenotype wheat populations with high throughput techniques such as using UAV. The dryland wheat trials were very unique in 2018 season because the wheat growth and development were solely relied on seminal roots due to extreme drought during the growing season. As such, plants relied on soil water storage from previous year to make yield. As a result, this is an excellent season to evaluate genetic differences in drought tolerance among TAM wheat germplasm. Dryland corn and sorghum - This is the second year to evaluate dryland corn and grain sorghum production using different hybrids and planting dates. The initial results indicated that planting date has significant effect on crop performance in both corn and sorghum. Due to the extremely drought in the spring, dryland corn was failed in 2018 season. Dryland sorghum was established with some initial watering at planting. As a result, sorghum performed well during the growing season. Bioenergy sorghum - This is the first year for the bioenergy sorghum trial at Bushland, TX and Coby, KS. We grew 6 photoperiod sensitive bioenergy sorghum hybrids in 3 water regimes (full irrigation, limited irrigation, and dryland). There were significant differences in biomass yield among hybrids. This year provided an excellent opportunity to evaluate drought tolerance and WUE in bioenergy sorghum. We will repeat the study in 2019 season.

Publications

  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Jenkins, Z., Q. Xue., B. C. Blaser, S. Thapa., K. E. Jessup, and J. M. Bell. 2018. Effects of Planting Date and Hybrid on Sugarcane Aphid Population and Drought Tolerance in Dryland Grain Sorghum. The ASA-CSSA 2018 Annual International Meeting, Baltimore, MD. Nov. 4-7, 2018.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Liu S.Y., C. Chu, J.C. Rudd, A. Ibrahim, Q. Xue, X. Xu, M.-S. Chen, S. Wang, R. Metz, C. Johnson, Y. Yang, S. Dhakal, J. Baker, R. Devkota, L. Garza, X. Liu. 2018. Utilization of primary synthetics in winter wheat genomic breeding. ASA-CSSA International Annual Meeting. Baltimore, MD. Nov. 4-7, 2018.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Liu S.Y., Tan, C.T., S. Assanga, S. Dhakal, Y. Yang, J.C. Rudd, Q. Xue, A. Ibrahim, R. Metz, S. wang, C.D. Johnson, G. Zhang, X. Xu, G. Bai, M. Chen, R. Devkota, H. Yu, L. Garza. 2018. Application of 90K Array and GBS SNPs in Wheat Genomic Breeding in the US High Plains. Presented in Crop Productions and Physiology Studies Session at The 4th International Conference on Agricultural and Biological Sciences in Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China, June 26-29, 2018. (Invited)
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Thapa S., J.C. Rudd, Q. Xue, K. Jessup, S.-Y. Liu, J. Baker. 2018. Use of NDVI for Characterizing Winter Wheat Genotypes in the Texas High Plains. ASA-CSSA Annual International Meeting, Baltimore, MD. Nov. 4-7, 2018.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Thapa S., Q. Xue, K. Jessup, J.C. Rudd, S.-Y. Liu, S. Baker, J. Baker, and R. Devkota. 2018. Stem Reserve Remobilization in Winter Wheat Genotypes in the Texas High Plains. Texas Small Grain Workers Meeting, College Station, Texas. Aug. 1-2, 2018.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Xue Q., S. Thapa, K. Jessup, S.-Y. Liu, J.C. Rudd, J. Baker, S. Baker, and R. Devkota. 2018. Improving Wheat Drought Tolerance and Water Use Efficiency in the Texas High Plains. ASA-CSSA Annual International Meeting, Baltimore, MD. Nov. 4-7, 2018.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Xue Q., S. Thapa, K. Jessup, J.C. Rudd, S.-Y. Liu, S. Baker, J. Baker, and R. Devkota. 2018. Evaluation of Physiological Traits Wheat Drought Tolerance ⿿ What We Learned from Two Extreme Drought Years? Texas Small Grain Workers Meeting, College Station, Texas. Aug. 1-2, 2018.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Yang Y., S. Dhakal, C. Chu, S. Wang, Q. Xue, J. C. Rudd, A.M.H. Ibrahim, J. Baker, K. Jessup, L. Garza, R. Devkota, S. Baker, G. Opena, C. Johnson, R. Metz, and S.-Y. Liu. 2018. Association analyses for yield and yield components in synthetic derived winter wheat lines. ASA-CSSA Annual International Meeting, Baltimore, MD. Nov. 4-7, 2018.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Assanga, S.O., M. Fuentealba, G. Zhang, C. Tan, S. Dhakal, J.C. Rudd, A.M.H. Ibrahim, Q Xue, S.D. Haley, J. Chen, S. Chao, J. Baker, K. Jessup, S.Y. Liu. 2018. Mapping of quantitative trait loci for grain yield and its components in a US popular winter wheat TAM 111 using 90K SNPs. PLOS ONE 12: e0189669. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0189669.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Dhakal, S., C.-T. Tan, V. Anderson, H. Yu, M.P. Fuentealba, J.C. Rudd, S.D. Haley, Q. Xue, A.M.H. Ibrahim, L. Garza, R. Devkota, S.Y. Liu. 2018. Mapping and KASP Marker Development for Wheat Curl Mite Resistance in ⿿TAM 112⿿ Wheat Using Linkage and Association Analysis. Mol. Breed. 38:119.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Dong, W., H. Yu, L. Zhang, R. Wang, Q. Wang, Q. Xue, Z. Pan, Z. Sun, X. Pan. 2018. Asymmetric ridge⿿furrow and film cover improves plant morphological traits and light utilization in rain-fed maize. J. Meteorological Research 32: 829-838
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Liu, X., X. Dong, Q. Xue, D. I. Leskovar, J. Jifon, J. R. Butnor, and T. Marek. 2018. Ground penetrating radar (GPR) detects fine roots of agricultural crops in the field. Plant and Soil. 423: 517-531.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Rudd, J.C., Devkota, R.N., A. M. Ibrahim, J.A. Baker, S. Baker, M.D. Lazar, R. Sutton, B. Simoneaux, G. Opeña, L.W. Rooney, J. M. Awika, S.-Y. Liu, Q. Xue, B. Bean, R.W. Duncan, R.L. Bowden, B.W. Seabourn, Y. Jin, M.-S. Chen, and R.A. Graybosch. 2018. TAM 114 wheat, excellent bread making-quality hard red winter wheat cultivar adapted to the Southern High Plain. J. Plant Reg. 12:367-372.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Stewart, B. A., S. Thapa, Q. Xue*, and R. Shrestha. 2018. Climate change effect on winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) yields in the US Great Plains. J. Soil and Water Conservation 73: 601-609.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Thapa, S., B. A. Stewart, Q. Xue*, M. B. Rhoades, and B. Angira, and J. Reznik. 2018. Canopy temperature, yield, and harvest index of corn as affected by planting geometry in a semi-arid environment. Field Crops Res. 227: 110-118.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Thapa, S., K. Jessup, G. Pradhan, J.C. Rudd, S.-Y. Liu, J. Mahan, R.N. Devkota, J. Baker, Q. Xue*. 2018. Canopy Temperature Depression at Grain Filling Correlates to Winter Wheat Yield in the U.S. Southern High Plains. Field Crop Res. 217: 11-19.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Thapa, S., S.K. Reddy, M.P. Fuentealba, Q. Xue*, J.C. Rudd, S.-Y. Liu. 2018. Physiological Responses to Water Stress and Yield of Winter Wheat Cultivars Differing in Drought Tolerance. J. of Agronomy and Crop Sci. 204:247-358
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Zhao, J., Q. Xue*, K. E. Jessup, B. Hao, X. Hou, T. H. Marek, W. Xu, S. R. Evett, S. O⿿Shaughnessy, and D. K. Brauer. 2018. Yield and water use of drought-tolerant maize hybrids in a semiarid environment. Field Crops Research 216: 1-9.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Zhao, J., Q. Xue*, X. Hou, B. Hao, K.E. Jessup, T.H. Marek, W. Xu, S.R. Evett, S. O⿿Shaughnessy, and D.K. Brauer. 2018. Shoot and Root Traits in Drought Tolerant Maize (Zea mays L.) Hybrids. J. Integrative Agriculture 17(5): 1093⿿1105.
  • Type: Book Chapters Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Bell, J., R. Schwartz, K. McInnes, Q. Xue, and D. Porter. 2018. Improving Water Management in Sorghum Cultivation. Ed. by William L. Rooney, Achieving Sustainable Cultivation of Sorghum Volume 2 : Sorghum Utilisation Around the World. Burleigh Dodds Science Publishing
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Bell, J. M., A. R. Walton, C. Naylor, T. Marek, Q. Xue, B. C. Blaser, G. Marek, and P. D. Colaizzi. 2018. Quantification of Water Use by Invasive Weeds with Microlysimetry. ASA-CSSA International Annual Meetings, November 4-7, 2018, Baltimore MD, USA.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Bhandari, M., A. M. H. Ibrahim, Q. Xue, H. Neely, N. Rajan, J. Jung, M. Maeda, J. Landivar, B. Simoneaux, G. Opena, and A. Adhikari. 2018. Assessing Wheat Foliar Disease Severity Using Ground- and Aerial-Based Remote Sensing Systems. Edgar S. McFadden Symposium on Wheat Improvement, May 1-2, 2018, Brookings, SD.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Bhandari, M., A. M. H. Ibrahim, Q. Xue, H. Neely, N. Rajan, J. Jung, M. Maeda, J. Landivar, B. Simoneaux, G. Opena, J. C. Rudd, S. Baker, and A. Adhikari. 2018. High-Throughput Field Phenotyping in Wheat to Assess Yield and Foliage Disease Severity. The ASA-CSSA 2018 Annual International Meeting, Baltimore, MD. Nov. 4-7, 2018.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Chen, Y., G. Marek, T. Marek, D. Brauer, R. Srinivasan, Q.Xue, and P Gawda. 2018. Evaluation and refinement of irrigation algorithms in SWAT. 2018 International Meeting ⿿ ASABE, July 29 ⿿ August 1, 2018, Detroit, MI, USA.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Dhakal S., Y. Yang, C. Chu, S. Wang, J. Baker, R. Devkota, S. Baker, G. Opena, J. Awika, J. C. Rudd, A.M.H. Ibrahim, Q. Xue, and S.-Y. Liu. 2018. Association analysis of end-use quality in synthetic derived winter wheat. ASA-CSSA Annual International Meeting, Baltimore, MD. Nov. 4-7, 2018.
  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Jenkins, Z., B. A. Stewart, B. Blaser, S. Thapa, J. M. Bell, K. E. Jessup, and Q. Xue. 2018. Effects of Planting Date and Hybrid on Sugarcane Aphid Population and Drought Tolerance in Dryland Grain Sorghum. West Texas A&M University Student Research Conference, April 12, 2018, Canyon, TX.


Progress 01/06/17 to 09/30/17

Outputs
Target Audience:Researchers, producers, extension professionals, crop consultants, policy makers, non-profit organizations. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Undergraduate and graduate students, post-docs and visiting scholars have been working in research porjects. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The research data have been presented in international, national and regional confferences, producers' meetings, and field days. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Continue field and greenhouse studies.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Corn -Corn is the major irrigated crop in the North Texas High Plains and the irrigation uses 53% of the entire water budget annually (1.43 million ac-ft, 1 ac-ft = 325,851 gallons) in the region. However, the declining water table along irrigation pumping restrictions by water districts will challenge the sustainable corn production. Field experiments are continuously conducted in different hybrids under various irrigation conditions from full irrigation to limited irrigation. Our results demonstrated that effective use of soil water during grain filling is important for maintaining high yield under water limited conditions. Wheat -Drought stress is the single most important factor for reducing wheat yields and water use efficiency (WUE) in the US Southern Great Plains. Developing drought tolerant wheat cultivars is a critical strategy for wheat management under waterlimited conditions. As such, our goal is to provide selection tools for breeders and geneticists and management tools for producers, through better understanding the physiological mechanisms of crop performance under drought stress conditions. Our results from field experiments showed that cooler canopy temperature and deep rooting are specifically healpful for wheat plants to obtain high yield under drought stress. In addition, early growth and biomass accumulation can improve root and shoot gorwth. As such, it is possible to phenotype wheat populations with high thoughput techniques such as using UAV. Dryland corn and sroghum - This is the first year to evalaute dryland corn and grain sorghum production using dffierent hybrids and planting dates. The initial results indicated that planting date has signfiicant effect on crop performance in both corn and sorghum. Due to the above average rainfall in August and September, corn and sorghum planted in late June yielded much more than those planted in early May. This studi will be repeated in 2018.

Publications

  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Assanga, S.O., G. Zhang, C.-T. Tan, J.C. Rudd, A. Ibrahim, Q. Xue, S. Chao, M.P. Fuentealba, S.Y. Liu. 2017. Saturated genetic map of wheat streak mosaic virus resistance gene wsm2 in wheat. Crop Science 57:332-339. doi: 10.2135/cropsci2016.04.0233.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Dhakal, S., C.-T, Tan, L. Paezold, M.P. Fuentealba, J.C. Rudd, B.C. Blaser, Q. Xue, C.M. Rush, R.N. Devkota, S.Y. Liu. 2017. Wheat curl mite resistance in hard winter wheat in the U.S. Great Plains. Crop Science 57:53-61
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Harris-Shultz, K., X. Ni, P. A. Wadl, X. Wang, H. Wang, F. Huang, K. Flanders, N. Seiter, D. Kerns, R. Meagher, Q. Xue, D. Reisig, D. Buntin, H. E. Cuevas, M. J. Brewer, and X. Yang. 2017. Microsatellite markers reveal a predominant sugarcane aphid (Homoptera: Aphididae) clone is found on sorghum in seven states and one territory of the USA. Crop Science 57: 20642072.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Liu, X., S. J. Feakins, X. Dong, Q. Xue, T. Marek, D. I. Leskovar, C. B. Neely, A. M. H. Ibrahim. 2017. Experimental study of leaf wax n-alkane response in winter wheat cultivars to drought conditions. Organic Geochemistry 113: 210-223.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Marek, G. W., T. H. Marek, Q. Xue, P. H. Gowda, S. R. Evett, and D. K. Brauer. 2017. Simulating evapotranspiration and yield response of selected corn varieties under full and limited irrigation in the Texas High Plains using DSSAT-CERES-Maize. Transactions of the ASABE 60: 837-846.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Tan, C.-T, S.O. Assanga, G. Zhang, J.C. Rudd, S. Haley, Q. Xue, A. Ibrahim, G. Bai, X. Zhang, P. Byrne, M.P. Fuentealba, S.Y. Liu. 2017. Development and validation of KASP SNP markers for wheat streak mosaic virus resistance gene Wsm2. Crop Science 57:340-349. doi: 10.2135/cropsci2016.04.0234.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Tan, C.-T., H. Yu, Y. Yang, X. Xu, M. Chen, J.C. Rudd, Q. Xue, A. Ibrahim, L. Garza, S. Wang, M.E. Sorrells, S.Y. Liu. 2017. Development and validation of KASP markers for the greenbug resistance gene Gb7 and the Hessian fly resistance gene H32 in wheat. Theoretical and Applied Genetics 130: 1867-1884. doi:10.1007/s00122-017-2930-4.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Thapa, S., B. A. Stewart, and Q. Xue. 2017. Grain sorghum transpiration efficiency at different growth stages. Plant, Soil and Environment 63: 70-75.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Thapa, S., B. A. Stewart, Q. Xue, and Y. Chen. 2017. Manipulating plant geometry to improve microclimate, grain yield, and harvest index in grain sorghum. PloS One 12(3), e0173511.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Thapa, S., Q. Xue, K. E. Jessup, J. C. Rudd, S. Liu, G. P. Pradhan, R. N. Devkota, and J. Baker. 2017. More recent wheat cultivars extract more water from deeper soil profile in the Texas High Plains. Agronomy J. 109: 2771-2780.
  • Type: Book Chapters Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Xue, Q., J.C. Rudd, J. Bell, T. Marek, S.Y. Liu. 2017. Improving water management in winter wheat. Ed. by P. Langridge, Achieving sustainable wheat cultivation. Vol. 2: Cultivation techniques. July 2017. ISBN: 978-1-78676-020-3. Burleigh Dodds Science Publishing.