A new high yielding quick maturing Australian Prime Hard (APH) quality wheat variety, Sunprime, and a new high yielding improved rust resistant faba bean variety, PBA Nanu, were highlights of the recent Narrabri field day to celebrate 60 years of research conducted at the IA Watson Grains Research Centre.
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Other highlights included research aimed at improving wheat crown rot resistance (the norths greats wheat disease threat), development of hybrid wheats with perhaps an additional 20 percent yield compared to conventional wheat varieties, and improved heat and drought tolerance in various crops.
Chick pea, field pea, canola, mustard, triticale and weed control, were other important cropping aspects featured. Narrabri IA Watson Grains Research Centre is Australia’s largest NSW farmer owned research centre, purchased and managed by farmers since 1958 (via the Wheat Research Foundation and its trustees), with considerable upgrades since and still occurring.
The centre is especially known for being instrumental in getting on top of stem rust, a disease that once caused regular major yield loss.
Sunprime (named in recognition of the 60th anniversary of Grain Growers Limited, acknowledging their contribution to the creation of the APH wheat classification grade) is equal or better yielding than any other medium to quick maturing variety.
Combining high quality classification (APH), with high yield and good resistance to the three rusts (leaf, stripe and stem) is quite an achievement for senior AGT wheat breeder Dr Meiqin Lu and her team.
Sunprime best suits the later sowing option, around mid-May onwards for many areas and has performed relative to other varieties well in good as well as harsh conditions.
Other features of Sunprime include moderate resistance (MR) to black point, good root lesion tolerance (P.thornei), acid soil tolerance and moderate plant height.
New faba bean variety PBA Nanu, bred by Sydney University plant breeder Dr Kedar Adhikari and team, is a significant step forward to the now important faba bean industry from around Dubbo north and including Queensland. Production in the north can exceed 500,000 tonnes in suitable years and is an important part of many rotations.
Nanu, in independent National Variety Testing (NVT) as well as Sydney University regional trials, has yielded a few percent higher than any other variety across all faba bean growing areas of northern NSW and southern Qld.
Yield superiority is consistent across all yield situations from low (0.5 t/ha) to high (4.5 t/ha). Especially important in northern growing areas is Nanu’s superior rust resistant to other faba bean varieties (rated MR-R).
That will not exclude the need to perhaps fungicide treatment once in a bad year, compared to sometimes several treatments for more susceptible varieties reports Dr Adhikari.
PBA Nanu has a similar level of resistance to virus disease Bean Leaf Roll Virus (BLRV) as that of PBA Nasma. It has similar flowering time and maturity to PBA Warda and PBA Nasma, all rated early flowering varieties.
Also importantly Nanu has larger and more uniform seed than Warda, but slightly smaller seed than Nasma, sometimes considered too large for sowing by some growers.
Quality is rated high. Rating against Chocolate spot, generally less critical in northern environments than southern ones, is moderately susceptible, equal to the best found in northern recommended varieties.
Production in the north can exceed 500,000 tonnes in suitable years and is an important part of many rotations.
Nanu is also susceptible to ascochyta blight, a more southern disease issue. Plant height is medium and it is rated MR to lodging.
Next week: Perennial tropical grasses have bounced back after light spring rains.