Research Finds Winter Important for Cereal Yield

A research team at the Chair of Plant Nutrition at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) has found that weather conditions in the winter and during the transition from fall to winter and winter to spring have a significant influence on the yield of key cereal crops, such as winter barley and winter wheat.

Global climate change has been continuously predicted to increase temperatures and change the distribution of precipitation. Scientists at TUM have recently investigated the effects of various weather parameters on the long-term yields of winter barley and evaluated the parameters with a decisive impact on plant development throughout the year and during specific growth phases.

In the study, the annual variations in crop yields were largely determined by the prevailing climatic conditions during winter as well as by the transition periods from the warmer season to the winter and vice versa. According to the study, indices such as temperature thresholds, frost change days, and precipitation intensity are particularly important in the winter.

For more details, read the news article in TUM News.