Genetic and non-genetic long-term trends of 12 different crops in German official variety performance trials and on-farm yield trends

Yield progress in major German crops is generated mostly due to genetic improvement over the last 30 years. Comparison of trial-station with on-farm yield reveals considerable gaps that are widening over time. Yield progress of newly released varieties for 12 crops from official German trials over the period 1983 until 2012 was analysed to assess their value for cultivation and use (VCU). We paid special attention to dissect progress into a...