Ten tonne yield goal at Yanco
From the December 2007 edition of Agriculture Today.
Eleven hundred genotypes of bread and durum wheat, 100 of barley and 60 of triticale are being evaluated under identical management at a cereal genotypes irrigated site at Yanco Agricultural Institute.
This allows for comparison of the lines within a crop type as well as comparison between the wheat, barley and triticale crop types.
Farmers at a recent field day were amazed at the size of the evaluation on 2000 plots, which consisted of bread and durum wheat, barley and triticale trials.
"We believe this is the largest variety evaluation ever conducted under irrigated conditions," NSW Department of Primary Industries rice farming systems industry leader, John Lacy, said.
"We are aiming for 10 tonne yields and some of the genotypes appear to have this potential."
A major barrier to attaining high yields is lodging which can reduce yields by 30 per cent.
The evaluation is seeking lines resistant to lodging. Some lines were already lodged by the time of the field day.
"We have noticed more lines lodging subsequent to the field day and the fourth spring irrigation, so this is good for the project," Mr Lacy said.
This season’s evaluation is the first year of the three years of the GRDC-funded project, so farmers are eagerly awaiting the grain yield and quality results.
The results will be widely publicised, including in the Farmers Newsletter which is distributed to all irrigated graingrowers.
The leader of the project, NSW DPI senior plant pathologist, Andrew Milgate, has collaborated with all the winter cereal breeding programs in Australia who have provided lines for the project.
Some of the breeding programs include Enterprise Grains Australia, Australian Grain Technologies, High Rainfall Zone, Longreach and Barley Breeding Australia.
He has also selected the highest yielding lines from Mexico.
Contact John Lacy, (02) 6957 2738, or Andrew Milgate, (02) 6938 1990.
