Wheat harvest quality: how to improve grain filling for high TKW and high protein rate?
Thousand kernel weight (TKW) is a yield component, and protein rate is a price component. Both are important parameters to farmers and depend on photosynthetical activity as well as nitrogen availability.
Up to 50% of photosynthetical activity of wheat is due to the flag leaf.
At flag leaf stage (BBCH 39), 80% of nitrogen is already absorbed. However, physiological activity and enzymatic process must keep going :
- Before this stage, photosynthesis enables growth of the crop. From BBCH 39, photosynthates production will go straight to grain for starch production and increase Thousand Kernel Weight.
- Protein content of grains depends on :
- Remobilisation of nitrogen from leaves to grain. Energy, and thus photosynthesis are essential to it.
- 20% of nitrogen will be absorbed during flowering and finition.
To reach those targets, photosynthesis must keep going on as long as possible and nitrogen must be available.
Contact your TIMAC AGRO expert to reach high protein rate and TKW.