Changes in the yield and associated photosynthetic traits of dry-land winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) from the 1940s to the 2010s in Shaanxi Province of China

Eight dry-land winter wheat cultivars (Triticum aestivum L.), representative of those widely cultivated from the 1940s to the 2010s in Shaanxi Province of China, were grown in plots that could be sheltered from rain. The plots were subjected to irrigation and drought treatments to identify the agronomic and photosynthetic traits associated with yield progress. Plant height at maturity decreased from 140.7 cm to 79.5 cm from the earliest to the...