Organizations such as the Canadian Wheat Board rely on yield forecasts to plan grain handling and marketing strategies. Therefore, a model that accurately predicts yield would be useful. In plant breeding programmes involving advanced line evaluations at different locations, lack of adequate resources may be a limitation. Differences among genotypes at different locations are due to genetic as well as environmental effects. These studies investigated the effects of temperature, photoperiod, and vernalization on the growth and development of spring wheat cultivars, and assessed the ability of the CERES-wheat model to predict yield in yield trials conducted in western Canada. Field experiments were conducted at Winnipeg and Carman, Manitoba, using three seeding dates at each location, to provide data for model calibration and validation. Controlled environment studies elucidated environmental effects which may be difficult to discern under field conditions. Da a on phenology, yield-related components, weather, and model-required soil properties were collected for all trials. High temperatures accelerated the growth of vernalization-insensitive cultivars by decreasing time to anthesis and time to maturity, and reduced the number of main stem leaves and yield-related components. High temperatures decelerated the growth of vernalizafion-sensitive cultivars and prolonged the length of the vegetative growth period. Differential cultivar phyllochron responses to temperature increases were evident. Therefore, the use of modified thermal time calculations in the CERES-wheat model may not be appropriate for all genotypes. To reduce errors in phyllochron interval calculations, crop modellers may need new equations to address temperature sensitivity of cultivars. Cultivar differences in time to heading, anthesis, and maturity, were attributable to differences in the time to terminal spikelet initiation. The CERES-wheat model was sensitive to changes in seeding date and locations.

Climate Change and Food Security with Emphasis on Wheat is the first book to present the full scope of research in wheat improvement, revealing the correlations to global issues including climate change and global warming which contribute to food security issues. Wheat plays a key role in the health of the global economy. As the world population continuously increases, economies modernize, and incomes rise, wheat production will have to increase dramatically to secure it as a reliable and sustainable food source. Since covering more land area with wheat crops is not a sustainable option, future wheat crops must have consistently higher yields and be able to resist and/or tolerate biotic and abiotic stresses that result from climate change. Addressing the biophysical and socioeconomic constraints of producing high-yielding, disease-resistant, and good quality wheat, this book will aid in research efforts to increase and stabilize wheat production worldwide. Written by an international team of experts, Climate Change and Food Security with Emphasis on Wheat is an excellent resource for academics, researchers, and students interested in wheat and grain research, especially as it is relevant to food security. - Covers a wide range of disciplines, including plant breeding, genetics, agronomy, physiology, pathology, quantitative genetics and genomics, biotechnology and gene editing - Explores the effect of climate change on biotic stresses (stripe rust, stem rust, leaf rust, Karnal bunt, spot blotch) on wheat production and utilization of biotechnology - Focuses on whole genome sequencing and next-generation sequencing technologies to improve wheat quality and address the issue of malnutrition in developing world