2023 Wharminda Wheat Trial Dataset: Soil, Plant, Climate, and Management Data from Coleoptile Length, Sowing Depth and Fertiliser Field Experiments

Full description

This dataset comprises soil, plant, climatic, and management data from a 2023 field experiment conducted at Ungarra, Eyre Peninsula, South Australia. The trial aimed to evaluate the establishment and performance of long coleoptile wheat genotypes compared to short coleoptile varieties under varying sowing depths and fertiliser regimes.

Three distinct experiments were conducted side-by-side:
1. Systems Trial (Water Balance): Investigated water balance at sowing using tarp treatments and sowing moisture assessments.
2. Core Genotype × Sowing Depth Trial: Compared eight wheat genotypes across three sowing depths (shallow, mid, deep).
3. Genotype × Depth × Nutrition Trial: Explored interactions between two genotypes, two sowing depths, and three fertiliser rates (45, 100, 150 kg/ha Monoammonium phosphate).

Data was collected through field-based measurements including plant counts, seeding depth, NDVI (via Greenseeker), canopy cover (via Canopeo), biomass, spike counts, and grain yield using a plot header. Soil chemistry was analyzed by Eurofins APAL using standardized test codes, and rainfall data were sourced from a nearby soil moisture probe. All data was manually recorded and digitised for further analysis. The data is presented in an Excel workbook (.xlsx) contains trial details, metadata, raw experimental data and soil chemistry. The sheets are interrelated through shared identifiers such as trial number, sowing depth, genotype, and treatment number. Test variables across trials, include a range of agronomic, physiological, and soil metrics, such as grain yield, harvest ratio, biomass, coleoptile length, plant density, seeding depth, NDVI, estimated canopy cover and soil pH, EC, N, P).

Codes and Symbols:
- GS: Growth Stage (e.g., GS10–11)
- NF: Nil Found (used in plant emergence data)
- WB: Water Balance treatment codes (e.g., WB1, WB2)

Lineage: Field experiment data