High yield with efficient nutrient use: and for wheat

Understanding yield formation and nutrient use are essential for wheat breeding and management. This study combined 76 field trials and literature data with sce-nario analysis to explore the potential of high yield, nutritional quality, and nutrient efficiency in wheat production in China. Currently, the high yield is achieved with high grain N and S but low Zn concentration, and low N efficiency. To improve the grain yield by 10% in 2035, the grain number needs to increase from 31.8 to 38.5 grain spike(-1), and the harvest index from 46.6% to 48.6%, with a reduction in spike number by 10%, when the grain N, Fe, Zn, and S, the nutrient removal efficiency, and the fertilizer efficiency of N, P, and K could all be increased. Our study provides strategies and ideas for promoting wheat pro-duction with high nutritional quality and high nutrient efficiency in China and other countries.