Duration of the stem elongation period influences the number of fertile florets in wheat and barley.

Yield increases in temperate cereals have been associated with increases in grain number. An experiment was conducted to investigate whether altering the duration of the stem elongation period in wheat and barley increases floret fertility and thereby grain number. A photoperiod-responsive spring wheat (UQ189) and spring barley (Arapiles) were grown in a naturally lit phytotron. Plants were grown at constant (9, 13 and 19 h) and reciprocally...