Impact of spatio-temporal shade dynamics on winter wheat growth and yield

During two growing seasons (2013-2014, 2014-2015), an artificial shade structure was installed on the experimental farm of Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech to evaluate winter wheat growth, productivity and quality under shade. During both seasons, global radiation (MJ/m²/days) at crop canopy level was measured with quantum sensors (CS300- Campbell Scientific Inc., USA – accuracy ± 5 % for the daily global radiation) and recorded every minute by a data logger (CR1000 - Campbell Scientific Inc., USA). These data are compiled at a daily time scale for each treatment (CS: constant shade, PS: periodic shade, NS: no shade) into the tables “GR_2013_2014.txt” and “GR_2014_2015.txt”.

During the cropping season, we sampled winter wheat to assess aboveground biomass, dry matter dynamics, final yield, yield components (thousand grain yield, grain size, and spike per m²) and grain protein content. These data are compiled in the two tables “sampling_2013_2014.txt” and “sampling_2014_2015.txt”. Samples were taken from three adjacent sowing lines of 40 cm. To assess dry matter distribution (g/m²), wheat plants were subdivided into spikes (DM_Spike_g_m2) and straw (DM_Straw_g_m2), dried and weighed. The final yield is expressed in t/ha at 0% humidity (Yield_t_ha_0%). We assessed the proportion of grain size using 3 sieves: 2.2, 2.5, 2.8 mm (Grain_weight_seive_2.2mm, Grain_weight_seive_2.5mm, Grain_weight_seive_2.8mm). Thousand grain weight at 0% humidity was calculated on subsamples from the harvested plots (TGW_g_0%). Protein content (%) analysis was performed with near-infrared reflectance spectroscopy technique (Protein_content_%).

Detailed information on the experimental design will be available in the following paper: “Impact of spatio-temporal shade dynamics on wheat growth and yield, perspectives for temperate agroforestry” in European Journal of Agronomy.