Special Issue "Breeding Cereals for Improved Agronomic and Quality Traits under Adverse Environmental Conditions"

Dear Colleagues,

Cereals are an important component of daily diets worldwide and play a key role in ensuring food security. To ensure food security, food production must increase by at least 60 percent to meet the needs of future populations. Along with this problem, future projections in global yield trends of cereals indicate a significant decline. The negative impacts of climate change resulting in biotic or abiotic stresses are the main cause of the decline in crop yields in recent years. Significant variation among genotypes and environments has been reported for different agronomic and quality traits of cereal crops, and their interaction has often been shown to contribute to a great proportion of overall trait variation. High variation in environmental conditions across locations and years, significantly influenced by increasing incidence of various biotic and abiotic stresses, usually increases the G × E component of variation and consequently decreases the heritability of a trait and its response to selection. Therefore, breeding efforts for increased stress tolerance can contribute significantly to the overall stability of grain yield and quality in cereal varieties.

This Special Issue (SI) aims to collect reliable information and experiences from around the world on genetic and breeding aspects of tolerance of cereal crops to biotic and abiotic stresses. The SI is open to research articles, opinions, reviews, and perspectives.

Welcome topics include, but are not limited to, agro-morphological and quality traits.

Dr. Valentina Španič
Prof. Dr. Hrvoje Šarčević
Guest Editors

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• cereals
• abiotic stress
• biotic stress
• agronomic traits
• grain yield
• grain quality
• genetics
• breeding
• genotype × environment interaction
• stability

Title: Performance of symmetric double flat fan nozzles against deoxynivalenol in durum wheat
Authors: Filip Vučajnk1, Valentina Spanic2, Stane TRDAN1, Iztok Jože KOŠIR3, Miha OCVIRK3, Matej VIDRIH1 1University if Ljubljana, Biotechnical Faculty, Department of Agronomy, Jamnikarjeva 101, 1000 Ljubljan
Affiliation: 1. University if Ljubljana, Biotechnical Faculty, Department of Agronomy, Jamnikarjeva 101, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia 2. Agricultural Institute Osijek, Juzno predgradje 17, 31000 Osijek, Croatia 3.Slovenian Institute of Hop Research and Brewing, Cesta Žalskega tabora 2, 3310 Žalec, Slovenia
Abstract: Four nozzle types were tested on large scale trials with 40 m2 (16 m x 2.5 m) plot unit size. Symmetric double fan injector nozzle Avi Twin 01 (80 l ha-1, 02 (160 l ha-1), 03 (240 l ha-1), 04 (320 l ha-1) were tested in 2020/2021 and 2021/2022 growing seasons. This study aimed to evaluate the performance of spray nozzles considering deoxynivalenol (DON) accumulation in durum wheat grains. The durum wheat variety used in the test was ‘Auradur’, with a density of 420 plants m-2. Artificial inoculation with Fusarium spp. was performed after fungicide protection of durum heads. The percentage of coverage of leaves and heads with fungicide droplets, grain yield, yield-related traits, technological quality parameters and concentration of DON in the grains were determined. The data were submitted to descriptive statistics; the results were compared by F test and the means were compared by Duncan test, both at a minimum significance level of 0.05. The nozzle Avi Twin 04 caused reduction of 45.0 % in DON concentration on average of both growing seasons, compared to control (without fungicide treatment), in durum wheat grains. That was in positive relation with the highest percentage of the coverage of head and leaf with fungicide droplets by this nozzle. By 110 04 twin nozzles the DON reduction was higher than by 110 01 nozzles. There was significant difference in grain yield when fungicide was used, compared to specific control without fungicide treatment. Also, Avi Twin 02 and 04 gave the best results in average considering grain yield, test weight and 1000 kernel weight. The differences in technological quality were less pronounced when used different spray nozzles.