Screening of Soft Red Winter Wheat Germplasm for Nitrogen Use and Uptake Efficiencies.

Accurate screening of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) phenotypes is very important to improve stress tolerance and yield.  Screening wheat germplasm can aid in the selection of lines with improved nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) and nitrogen uptake efficiency (UTE) in early breeding generations.  An elite panel of regionally established germplasm, (280 genotypes) was screened for grain yield, NUE [yield (kg ha^-1) / total fertilizer N applied (kg ha^-1] and UTE [total grain N (kg ha^-1) / total N applied (kg ha^-1)] under normal and reduced (low) nitrogen regimes. Data was analyzed through spatial analysis by using ASREML software and genotypes were ranked based on their nitrogen uptake and nitrogen use efficiency.  Grain yield, NUE and UTE were found to be significantly influenced by genotypes.