Early heat waves hit wheat yields hardest but boost resilience to subsequent heat waves

edited by Gaby Clark , reviewed by Robert Egan

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Add as preferred source Credit: Pixabay from Pexels New research published in the Journal of Experimental Botany reveals that wheat crops are more sensitive to grain yield losses from heat waves that occur before reaching their flowering stage than those occurring later. However, exposure to heat waves early in the growing season may reduce yield losses during additional heat waves through a protective "priming" effect.

A team of researchers from the University of Lleida in Catalonia, Spain, investigated the roles of heat wave intensity, frequency and timing relative to crop flowering during the growing season to identify how these factors interacted to affect wheat crop yield.