Perspective on wheat yield and quality with reduced nitrogen supply

Wheat is an important cereal crop with a high demand for nitrogen (N) fertilizer to enable grain protein accumulation, which is necessary for baking and processing quality. Here perspectives for the development of improved wheat genotypes with higher yield stability, better grain quality and N use efficiency to lower environmental impacts are discussed. The development of improved wheat genotypes, for example lacking storage proteins that do not contribute to baking quality (e.g. by genome editing), in combination with appropriate N fertilizer management to prevent N losses into the environment, underpin a novel approach to improving nitrogen use efficiency. This approach may be particularly applicable to wheats grown for animal feed which have lower quality and functionality requirements.