Project
Design potato ideotypes for better performance under salt and drought stress
Fresh water availability for agriculture in the Dutch coastal area is limited and under the pressure of climate change, consequently, the likeliness of simultaneous drought events and higher soil salinity is going to increase, and lower potato yields in those particular areas. Even though the effects of drought and salinity have been described in single-factor experiments, the simultaneous effect has not been explored. This project wants to characterize the physiological response of potatoes to those conditions, design the “ideal” cultivar with the right traits to improve their real yield in those conditions, and test then with modeling techniques.
Background
Drought and salinity stress are major abiotic constraints in agriculture. Drought induces a complex array of responses in plants, including stomatal closure, reduced turgor pressure, and reduced photosynthesis rates, leading to reduced growth and crop yield. Similar to drought, salinity quickly limits water uptake and causes osmotic stress, and subsequently reduced turgor pressure and reduced photosynthesis limit plant development and growth. Understanding plant traits that enhance plant performance in drought and salinity simultaneously will enable the development of more resilient and productive crops and cropping systems.
Project description
The main objective is to use experimentation and modeling to design potato crops and cropping systems with maximum yield potential, quality, and resource use efficiency under drought and increased salinity. We focus on understanding and characterizing root traits in various temporal drought and salinity stress regimes for the development of more productive crops. In addition, we focus on understanding optimal irrigation regimes during plant development to maximize water use efficiency. Understanding plant adaptations to drought and salinity stress could provide useful breeding targets for crop improvement.