REGINA — The effects of boron treatments on canola yields have been difficult for crop researchers to verify.
“Of any research that has been done by government groups or independent third parties, we’ve never been able to see a consistent yield response, or protein or oil quality improvement,” said Canola Council of Canada researcher Nicole Philp.
This year, the canola council studied boron within its Ultimate Canola Challenge framework to better understand the plant nutrient.
It used small plot trials at Scott, Sask., Portage la Prairie, Man., and Beaverlodge, Alta., as well as large plot producer trials.
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The trials applied Nexus at five percent flower, MicroBolt at the four to six leaf stage and an Omex product called SuperB at five percent flower.
“For this year, there was no significant difference between any of the boron treatments compared to the check that had no boron applied,” Philp said.
The producer trials were conducted at Rapid City, Man., Innisfail and Penhold in Alberta, and Nip-awin, Fairlight and Medstead in Saskatchewan.
The untreated check sometimes yielded higher than the boron treated strip, while in other locations the boron trial out-yielded the check.
The coefficient of variation (CV), which shows the reliability of the trial, had a CV of four, which indicates a reliable trial. The lower the number, the more reliable the trial.
“For variety trials, for example, if a site has a CV of over 15, it’s not considered reliable,” Philp said. “With a CV of four, I’m pretty happy with the reliability of the data.”
The least significant difference (LSD) measure indicates whether the treatment results in a significant yield difference.
“If your yield treatment (had a LSD) greater than 1.87 bushels per acre, then we can say, ‘yes, there was a significant yield response here.’ Nipawan was the only site with a significant yield difference,” Philp said.
“(We) need to look at the soil test and to get the producer to do it again next year to see if they can repeat the results. Just to give us more confidence as to why there was such a significant yield difference.”
She said boron is inexpensive, but producers may want to reconsider applying it if it’s not paying off economically.
It is an essential micronutrient for plant production, and canola has a higher requirement than wheat and barley.
Philp said boron deficiency is an issue globally, but it is rare in Western Canada. It often occurs in patches rather than the entire field.
Soil organic matter is the primary source of boron in western Canadian soil. Boron deficiency can occur in sandy soil with low organic matter and in higher pH soil.
“Boron does have some mobility in the soils, but it does need water to be able to move into that root zone,” Philp said. “Saturated fields can actually tie up boron, or it can be leached in some of the sandier soils, or in fields with high levels of calcium or potassium.”
Signs of boron deficiency include:
- reddened leaves that are cupping in the pre-bolting stage
- a reddish tint to some pods in late flowering to early podding stage, with pale flowers
- aborted or poorly developed pods in later stage canola, as well as dead terminal buds
Producers who think they have a boron deficiency should send a tissue sample to a lab for testing
For more information, visit www.canolacouncil.org.
