The Wheat Book

Bulletin 4443 ISSN 1326-415X Agdex 112-01 October 2000

The Wheat Book
Principles and Practice

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The Wheat Book
Principles and Practice
Compiled by W.K. Anderson and J.R. Garlinge Agriculture Western Australia

Funded by the Grains Research and Development Corporation

Agriculture Western AustraliaBulletin 4443 Replaces Bulletin 4196 ISSN 1326-415X Agdex 112/01

© Chief Executive Officer, Department of Agriculture, Western Australia October 2000

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THE WHEAT BOOK

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The second edition of The Wheat Book has been somewhat changed from the original edition. Some of the authors of the chapters of the first edition have moved on or were no longer available to revise theircontributions. The editors and authors of the second edition acknowledge the original contributors, especially Michael Perry and Brian Hillman who edited the first edition. Some of the chapters in the second edition are revisions of the original chapters and in these cases the original authors are acknowledged at the start of each chapter. There are some new chapters or sections on weed management,grain quality, marketing, durum wheat, feed wheat and triticale and several chapters have been considerably expanded. All chapters have been revised to include new information where applicable. The reaction from readers of the first edition of The Wheat Book has indicated that major users have included consultants, company agronomists, undergraduate students, technical specialists in machinerycompanies, seed merchants and fertilizer companies, in addition to wheat growers. As a consequence we have decided to slightly change the emphasis of the second edition from “A technical manual for wheat producers” to “ Principles and practice of wheat production” to accommodate this wider group of users. The Grains Research and Development Corporation has funded the printing costs of the secondedition. Most of the authors are employed by Agriculture Western Australia and most have contributed their time and talents as an extra-curricular activity. W. K. Anderson and J. Garlinge (editors)

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THE WHEAT BOOK

CONTENTS
Chapter 1: Environment ..................................................................................1 Chapter 2: The Structure and Development of theCereal Plant ..................23 Chapter 3: Germination, Vegetative and Reproductive Growth ....................37 Chapter 4: Crop Water Use ............................................................................55 Chapter 5: Nutrition ......................................................................................69 Chapter 6: Wheat in Farming Systems........................................................109 Chapter 7: Crop Management ......................................................................131 Chapter 8: Wheat Quality and the Uses of Western Australian Wheat........165 Chapter 9: Tillage ........................................................................................175 Chapter 10: Diseases....................................................................................201 Chapter 11: Insect Pests ................................................................................229 Chapter 12: Weed Control in Wheat ..........................................................245 Chapter 13: Markets and Marketing ............................................................259 Chapter 14: Special Wheats..........................................................................271 Appendix 1: Climate data for locations in the wheatbelt ............................308 Appendix 2: Main soil groups occurring in the wheat growing areas of Western Australian ......................................................314

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THE WHEAT BOOK

CHAPTER 1 – ENVIRONMENT

CHAPTER ONE

ENVIRONMENT
Chapter Coordinator: Ian Foster Wheatbook 1...