Breeding progress is a major contributor to improved regional maize water productivity.

ABSTRACT: Agricultural water productivity, defined as the amount of grain produced per unit of available water, is an important sustainability criterion in modern crop production. Although genetic progress in maize has increased crop yields, there are limited studies on the role of plant breeding on this sustainability metric. In the center of the US corn-belt, maize rainfed yields have more than tripled since 1950 while relying on the same amount of water inputs. Our analysis shows that this shift in grain production resulted in a water productivity increase of 0.191 kg ha^-1 mm^-1 year^-1, corresponding to a relative rate of 4.2% year^-1, and is the result of both higher biomass productivity and increased harvest index (i.e., the proportion of grain in total

SUBMITTER: Rotundo JL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12012226 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature