Adoption of agronomic practices based on zero tillage and residue retention is increasing, due to their potential for climate change adaptation and mitigation. Genotype by tillage interactions for yield are not well understood. Fourteen CIMMYT bread (Triticum aestivum) and durum (Triticum turgidum) wheat genotypes, created between 1964 and 2011, were tested for yield and agronomic performance at CIMMYT’s experimental station near Ciudad Obregon, Mexico, over nine years (harvest years 2010 to 2018). Treatments included conventional and permanent raised beds with full and reduced irrigation. The dataset contains data on wheat performance (days to emergence, flowering and maturity, plant height, harvest index, grain yield, thousand grain weight, test weight, NDVI), performance traits calculated from these data (e.g. number of grains per m2, number of grains per spike, grain production rate from flowering to maturity) and daily weather data during the study period (precipitation, maximum and minimum temperature). This is an updated version of a dataset published in Honsdorf et al. (2018), where we have added three more years of data (harvest years 2016, 2017 and 2018) and one additional bread wheat genotype, Borlaug 100 (created in 2011) that was tested only in the six last years of the experiment (harvest years 2013 to 2018).
(prepared R.A.(Tony) Fischer 14 August 2021) This dataset contains three data files that were obtained and/or constructed an analysis of 60 years’ yield progress with irrigated wheat yield in northwest Mexico: 1. Wheat harvested area and average yield each harvest year for the irrigated Cajeme District of Sonora State, Mexico, from 1960 to 2019 (file name = 1. Annual wheat average yield and harvest area 1960 to 2019, Yaqui Valley (Cajeme District) 2. Monthly average Tmax, Tmin, precipitation total and frost days from November 1959 to April 2019 (only for November to April each year, which corresponds to the irrigated wheat season) for a location at or near the centrally-located CIANO (now CENEB) agricultural research station of the Yaqui Valley. Monthly mean solar radiation (Rs) was added from November 1967 (unavailable beforehand) (file name = 2. Mean monthly wheat weather 1960 to 2019 Yaqui Valley). 3. Daily solar radiation (Rs), Tmax and Tmin from November 1967 to April 2019 (again only for November to April each year) (file name = 3. Daily wheat weather 1967 to 2019 Yaqui Valley). Locating and acknowledging the exact original sources of these data is not easy, but is explained at the beginning of each file and within the files if the source varies. The wheat area and yield data is publicly available soon after harvest, having been collated by Cajeme District grain receival authority in Cd Obregon, who also regularly provide updated multiyear records of the finalized annual numbers. This District comprises the bulk of the irrigated Yaqui Valley and has been synonymous with the Yaqui Valley for outsiders. The weather data comes from the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) headquarters, which has operated a weather station at CIANO/CEBEB experiment station, located centrally in the Yaqui Valley since 1968. However, for most numbers before 1968 the State Hydraulic Resources (CONAGUA in Cd Obregon), using data held by CIMMYT was used, and a few numbers after 2000 were obtained from the Hydraulic Resources in Cd Obregon and the Sonora State meteorological service (REMAS in Hermosillo). A large part of the daily Tmax and Tmin data (1968 to 1999), although originally from CIMMYT, was collated by Professor L.A. (Tony) Hunt of Guelph University, Canada, as was the daily and (monthly) Rs data from 1968 to 1983. From 1984 the NASA web site has continuous daily Rs data closely matching the Hunt numbers, so this source was used thereafter, while Hunt and Fisiologia data (adjusted to match NASA data) was used from 1968 to 1983. Tmax and Tmin data are also available on the NASA site but did not match CIMMYT data well and was never used. So the weather data has several sources, which increases the risk of error. Only the very strong relationship right across the 60 year period between totally independent variables yield and Tmin reassures us that the weather data is sound. A follow-up study (and associated database) will disaggregate the causes of the spectacular progress recorded.
The experiment was initiated in 2008 and concluded in 2018 to evaluate the performance of durum wheat (Triticum durum L.) under conventionally tilled (CTB) and permanent beds (PB) under two sowing irrigation practices and five nitrogen (N) fertilization treatments in northwestern Mexico. It was located at the Norman E. Borlaug Experiment Station (CENEB) near Ciudad Obregón, Sonora, Mexico (lat. 27°22010″N, long. 109°55051″E, 38 masl) and had a randomized complete block design for four environments (ENV) that combined tillage and sowing irrigation practice: CTB with wet and dry sowing and PB with wet and dry sowing. The PB treatments had been under conservation agriculture for over ten years previously to the experiment. Plots were defined by N fertilizer management, with three replicates. Plots were 3 m wide (4 beds of 0.75 m width) and 10 m long, a space of 30 m2. The CTB were tilled after each crop with a disk harrow to 20 cm depth and new beds were formed. The PB were only reshaped every year in the furrow without disturbing the soil on the bed. In wet sowing, 100-120 mm irrigation was applied two-to-three weeks before sowing; in dry sowing, the field was irrigated one or two days after sowing, which provided higher soil moisture content during germination than wet sowing. Four auxiliary irrigations of 80-100 mm were applied to all plots each cycle. The N fertilizer treatments consisted of a control treatment with no N fertilizer and five treatments with different doses and divisions between first and second fertilization applied as urea. The basal N application was done on the same day as the pre-sowing irrigation, applying the fertilizer in the furrow and incorporating it through irrigation. The N application at first node was completed immediately prior to the first auxiliary irrigation. Nitrogen was applied either once (basal) or split between pre-sowing and first node (split). The data set contains daily weather data for the weather station closest to the experimental site for 2008-2018 (reference evapotranspiration, precipitation, minimum and maximum temperature), yield data (grain yield, biomass yield and straw yield for durum wheat), grain quality data (test weight and thousand kernel weight), and plant physiological data (plant stand, days from flowering to maturity, NDVI) for 2009-2018, grain and straw N data for three years, soil temperature for two years and soil moisture for one year.
We examined soil organic matter (OM) dynamics in a wheat (Triticum durum L.) – maize (Zea mays L.) irrigated bed planting system established in 1992 at the Campo Experimental Norman E. Borlaug (CENEB) near Ciudad Obregón, Sonora, Mexico (27°33’N, 109°09’W; elevation 38 m). The location has an arid subtropical climate with a mean annual temperature of 23.7 °C and average precipitation of 311 mm. Treatments included conventionally tilled raised beds (CTB) with residue incorporated (CTB-I) and permanent raised beds (PB) with residue burned (PB-B), removed (PB-R), partly retained (PB-P) or fully retained (PB-K) receiving 0, 150, or 300 kg N/ha. We sampled surface soil (0-15 cm) in 2019 and compared soil organic C (OC), total N (TN), and δ13C distribution in the whole-soil as well as within light- (LF) and mineral-associated OM (MAOM) fractions. Additionally, solid-state 13C NMR spectroscopy was used to characterize whole-soil OM composition.
Agronomic systems based on zero tillage and residue retention are becoming more important due to their potential for climate change adaptation through the reduction of soil erosion and improved water availability. Genotype by tillage interactions for yield are not well understood and it is unknown whether tillage should be an evaluation factor in breeding programs. Twenty-six CIMMYT bread (Triticum aestivum) and durum (Triticum turgidum) wheat genotypes, created between 1964 and 2009, were tested for yield and agronomic performance at CIMMYT’s experimental station near Ciudad Obregon, Mexico, over six years (harvest years 2010 to 2015). Treatments included conventional and permanent raised beds with full and reduced irrigation. The data set contains data on wheat performance (days to flowering and maturity, plant height, harvest index, grain yield, thousand grain weight, test weight, NDVI during early vegetative growth and maximum NDVI), performance traits calculated from these data (.e.g number of grains per m2, number of grains per spike, grain production rate from flowering to maturity) and monthly weather data during the study period (reference evapotranspiration, precipitation, maximum, minimum and average temperature).
