Australia
May 10, 2013
New crown rot analysis funded by the Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC) has taken a closer look at tolerance ratings in current and future wheat cultivars with positive results.
Rob Long, Crown Analytical Services (CAS) and B&W Rural, Moree, NSW says yield performance for a number of potential new wheat varieties looks promising relative to EGA Gregory in the presence of crown rot.
Mr Long says there is value in the current resistance system but also potential to adopt tolerance ratings that would be very useful to growers and advisers.
“Current resistance ratings are a fair representation of crown rot index and percentage yield loss but they do not take into account a variety’s inherent yield capability, so there is variation between the rating and actual yield under varying levels of disease pressure.”
Mr Long said GRDC and three seed companies (Australian Grain Technologies, Longreach Plant Breeders and Heritage Seeds) continue to show a financial commitment to breeding for higher yields via improved crown rot tolerance.
Fourteen new varieties, destined for commercial release, plus five check varieties were assessed.
EGA Gregory was chosen as the “standard” to which all others were compared, as it has been so widely grown in the northern grains region.
To download the GRDC Update paper detailing the research, visit www.grdc.com.au/GRDC-UpdatePaper-LongPenberthy2013-CrownRotTolerance.
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