Deficit Irrigation Affects Wheat Yield and End-Use Quality.

Deficit irrigation has been widely adopted in cereal crop production, but limited effort has been made to determine its effect on end-use quality of common wheat. A field study was conducted to address this issue. Four irrigation levels (irrigation to compensate 0, 50, 75, and 100% evapotranspiration, ET) and four N rates (56, 112, 170, and 225 kg N ha^-1) were evaluated on spring wheat (cv. ‘Dayn’). Yield and end-use quality showed little response to N fertilization. Grain yield gradually increased with increasing water input. Grain hardness analyzed by near-infrared spectroscopy (NIR) was not affected by irrigation levels. Irrigation tended to increase flour yield but decreased percentage of flour protein and ash and loaf volume relative to non-irrigated control. Mixograph traits, such as peak, height, and absorption were negatively correlated to increasing water input. The two higher irrigation levels (i.e., 75 and 100% ET) did not differ significantly in yield or end-use quality, indicating a lower irrigation level may be used without losing yield or quality of common wheat.