Modifying canopy architecture to optimize photosynthesis in crops

Publication date: 09/01/2023
Extent: 42 pages

Contributions by: Anthony Digrado and Elizabeth A. Ainsworth, Global Change and Photosynthesis Research Unit, USDA-ARS and University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA

Chapter synopsis:

Canopy architecture is described by the quantity and three-dimensional display of leaves in a crop canopy, which determines light interception and subsequent canopy photosynthesis. While many crop canopies were reshaped by selection during the Green Revolution, there is further opportunity for improvement of the light environment within crop canopies and the canopy light use efficiency in modern crops is modeled to be sub-optimal. Thus, there is growing interest in understanding how the canopy architecture affects the light environment, canopy carbon assimilation and transpiration, and ultimately yield. In this chapter, we review how light is modeled within crop canopies, describe how selection has altered crop canopies, and describe opportunities to improve architectural features of the canopy to improve radiation use efficiency. Finally, we discuss considerations for the adoption of canopies better suited to their environment and management practices.

DOI: 10.19103/AS.2022.0119.11