Identifying Flower Characteristics for the Production of Hybrid Wheat Seed.

Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) ranks third globally for food crop production behind maize (Zea mays L.) and rice (Orya sativa L.).  Wheat yields must improve to keep up with the increasing demand due a global population which is expected to reach 9 billion by the year 2050 and also increasing individual wealth which will expand food markets.  To keep up with this demand, new agronomic practices need to be implemented along with improved genetics.  How can genetics be improved when the rate of genetic gain for grain yield is about 1% per year?  Hybrid wheat could help increase the rate of genetic gain, but for hybrid wheat to be a commercial success, the hybrids need to produce significantly more grain than current cultivars with a reasonable seed cost.  To create economically viable seed production techniques, there must be a clear understanding of what morphological traits will increase the successful pollination of the female parent (seed parent) while using less male parent (pollinator).  For the male parent of the hybrid it is important to increase the amount of pollen available.  We decided to focus on anther extrusion which can be described as how well anthers “burst” out of the floret and is rated visually.  In 2014 and 2015, we found that there were significant differences between genotypes for anther extrusion with some genotypes extruding no anthers and other genotypes fully extruding their anthers.  In our hybrid production field we also found a significant correlation between seed weight of the female parent and the anther extrusion score of the male.