Nitrogen uptake and utilization efficiency of European maize hybrids developed under conditions with low and high nitrogen input.

Publikations-Art

Zeitschriftenbeitrag

Autoren

Presterl, T., S. Groh, M. Landbeck, G. Seitz, W. Schmidt, and H.H. Geiger

Erscheinungsjahr

2002

Veröffentlicht in

Plant Breeding

Band/Volume

121/

Seite (von - bis)

480-486

Maize varieties with improved nitrogen(N)-use efficiency under low soil N conditions can contribute to sustainable agriculture. We tested whether selection of European elite lines at low and high N supply resulted in hybrids with differential adaptation to these contrasting N conditions. The objective was to analyze whether genotypic differences in N uptake and N-utilization efficiency existed in this material and to what extent these factors contributed to adaptation to low N supply. We compared 24 hybrids developed at low N supply (L?L) with 25 hybrids developed at high N supply (H?H). The N uptake was determined as total above?ground N in whole plants, and N-utilization efficiency as ratio between grain yield and N uptake in yield trials at four locations and at three N levels each. Highly significant variation due to hybrids and hybrids ? N level interaction was observed for grain yield as well as N uptake and N-utilization efficiency of both hybrid types. Average yield of the L?L hybrids was higher than those of the H?H hybrids by 11.5% at low N supply and 5.4% at medium N level. There was no significant yield difference between the two hybrid types at high N supply. The L?L hybrids showed significantly higher N uptake at the low (12%) and medium (6%) N levels than the H?H hybrids. In contrast, no differences in N-utilization efficiency were observed between the hybrid types. Our results indicate that adaptation of hybrids from European elite breeding material to conditions with reduced nitrogen input was possible and was mainly due to an increase in N-uptake efficiency.