Sp-method: A Quantified Ecological Approach for Assessing Potential Crop Yield Breakthroughs

Understanding crop yield formation is important for agronomists to make a contribution to improved cropmanagement. An analytical procedure, referred to here as Sp-method, is presented as a way to evaluatealternative ways to achieve yield advances, based on ecological theory and using regression techniques. Therationale of Sp-method is that the crop yield is the result of genetic potential performance under ecologicalpressure within field environments. Yield and its components are expressed as mathematical equationsrepresenting interacting ecological and management factors. Partial differentials of yield components andgradients for the factors assessed reveal which management tactics can best be exploited for higher crop yield. The application of this routine is illustrated with two examples, and some directions are pointed out for betterapplying and improving this method