A QUANTITATIVE APPROACH TO RESPIRATION AND PRODUCTION

Using knowledge about how and where molecular conversions take place it was calculated that in light a maximum of about 0. 75 gram plant dry matter can be synthesized from 1 gram of photosynthate.
During this conversion about 0. 4 gram carbon dioxide is formed.
These values are independent of temperature, but they are different in darkness and may be altered considerably by the nature of initial and end products.

The amount of photosynthate oxidized to maintain the dry matter formed is variable and usually small compared with the growth requirement.
For crop yield the intensity of redistribution of plant constituents is of importance as energy is required for breakdown, translocation and resynthesis.

Thus crop respiration and dry matter production depend mainly upon the rate of photosynthesis and very little upon the dry matter present.

Symposium on Greenhouse Climate: Evaluation of Research Methods

F.W.T. Penning de Vries

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.1973.32.4