Progressive growers spend a considerable amount of time and attention on crop growth of their wheat – inspecting leaves, counting shoots and weighing up the prospects of the ear as it emerges. But what about growth below ground?

“Rooting is paramount to crop performance,” comments Cat Gray, communications lead at Syngenta. “But while pro-active agronomy decisions are made on what the crop looks like above the ground, how many farmers and agronomists get out a spade to dig down to the root of the problem?”

Kicking off at Cereals 2017, Syngenta and CPM are launching a new initiative to encourage all growers to get in touch with their roots. Root Matters will work with a core group of growers, the aim being to unearth and explore the implications of agronomy decisions on root mass and plant stress management and the interaction of this with variety choice.

Cat Gray wants to work with growers to relate the science of root growth to agronomic decisions.

“We’re planning to go beyond just digging up a few plants to look at the roots,” continues Cat Gray. “We want to take more detailed measurements – analyse and break down the root structure to a microscopy level to understand how a plant puts its fibrous network into the soil, what it’s looking for, and what we can do to encourage it to forage.”

 

The scientific objective of the initiative is to combine ‘citizen science’, provided by growers at a field level on the farm, with practical field trials on Syngenta Innovation Centre sites, through to high level technical R&D at Jealotts Hill in Berks. “We’ll also be bringing in independent experts with their trials-based experience, from the likes of NIAB TAG, GWCT and others.”

 

CPM readers are encouraged to take part and will be kept informed of developments and the technical outcomes of the initiative through a series of Root Matters articles over the next 18 months. “We’ll be working with our core group of growers to relate the science of root growth to agronomic decisions, such as nature of cultivations, nitrogen timing and rates, seed rates, use of PGRs, variety vigour and seed treatments,” explains Cat Gray.

 

There’ll be help and guidance given through a special area of the Syngenta website on assessing the health and progress of your crop’s roots through carrying out simple dig, wash, weigh and measure tests, and what to look for when you examine a plant’s root system.

 

“The aim is to equip growers with a better knowledge and understanding of crop rooting systems, and ultimately work together to develop practical solutions and information to help farmers get more from their wheat crops.”

 

Those looking to register their interest in the initiative, to receive email updates and access to new information as it becomes available can sign up at www.syngenta.co.uk/root-matters or visit Syngenta at stand 118 at Cereals 2017. Look out for feature articles on the initiative in future issues of CPM and on the CPM website.