Exploring the traits for lodging tolerance in wheat genotypes: a review

Abstract

The rising population entails enhancement in wheat productivity to ensure substantial food supply which often get hindered by various biotic and abiotic stresses. Lodging, due to rain and high velocity wind causes significant economic and yield losses in cereals. Hence, lodging is emerging as a major hurdle to achieve the required yield targets. Various morphological, biochemical, anatomical and genetic traits contribute to produce a plant competent enough to bear lodging stress. Hence, in this review, we intend to elaborate the cause and impact relationship of lodging and tried to link lodging tolerance traits to field practices to minimize the losses. Because of the complex nature of lodging phenomenon, it is still obscure to identify best correlated traits to screen genotype in breeding programmes. However, the genotypes with best correlated traits like plant height, culm wall thickness should be introduced/selected in breeding programmes to inculcate lodging tolerance in a high yielding variety as in recent era lodging tolerance is a key factor to enhance productivity and farmer's income as well.

Keywords: Lodging; Plant traits; Productivity; Wheat.

Fig. 1

Transverse section of wheat culm internode, OCD outer culm diameter (culm thickness), ICD internal culm diameter, MTL mechanical tissue layer, PTL parenchymatous tissue layer

Fig. 2

Plant traits associated with lodging tolerance