Seventy-five years of spring barley breeding

research has provided clues as to how plant breeders might make further improvements in the efficiency of nutrient use.

A research paper by scientists at the James Hutton Institute and SRUC has been selected as Paper of the Month by the European journal of Agronomy.

James Hutton Institute researchers Alison Karley, Philip White, Bill Thomas and Joanne Russell along with Ian Bingham of SRUC looked at what 75 years of plant breeding has done for the efficiency with which barley responded to nitrogen.

While nitrogen has dramatically increased crop yields over the years, overuse or waste is not only uneconomic but very damaging to the environment. Their research has provided clues as to how plant breeders might make further improvements in the efficiency of nutrient use and so increase yields while lowering nitrogen demand.

The paper entitled "Analysis of improvements in nitrogen use efficiency associated with 75 years of spring barley breeding" is based on research conducted under the 2006-2011 RERAD programme WP 1.7. The recognition of its quality came from the Editorial Board of the Journal which can be found on the European Society of Agronomy website.