Plant breeders recently unveiled their newest wheat lines, showing 24 new cultivars that could one day be sprouting in fields across the Prairies.
Plant breeders Brian Rossnagel from the Crop Development Centre and David Gehl from Agriculture Canada said new wheat lines will offer improved disease resistance, higher yield potential and improved grain quality characteristics.
Eight of the new lines have already been registered by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency while five others were expected to receive approval by late 2009 or early 2010.
The remaining 11 lines highlighted haven’t yet been put forward for registration but they represent the most promising new material under development for Western Canadian wheat growers.
Read Also
Ag in Motion speaker highlights need for biosecurity on cattle operations
Ag in Motion highlights need for biosecurity on cattle farms. Government of Saskatchewan provides checklist on what you can do to make your cattle operation more biosecure.
The newest lines could be put forward for registration when the Prairie Grain Development Committee holds its annual variety recommending meeting Feb. 23-25 in Saskatoon.
Rossnagel outlined the CDC’s newest lines, which included GP003, a white general purpose variety that has a yield advantage over AC Superb and similar days to maturity.
In pre-registration tests, yield potential of GP003 was slightly lower than AC Andrew but maturity was five days earlier.
“This one (GP003) looks really good in the field,” said Rossnagel.
“Obviously, the quietening of the ethanol industry makes us a little less enthusiastic … but given the earlier maturity and high yield, hopefully this one will find its place.”
Protein concentrations were roughly 0.5 percent lower than AC Vista.
Also in the general purpose class is CDC Sunrise, a soft red winter variety that offers high yield, low protein, resistance to leaf and stem rust and good lodging resistance.
Canterra holds the rights to GP003 while Western Ag Seed Innovations has the rights to CDC Sunrise.
Agriculture Canada also had its first general purpose variety registered in 2009.
Minnedosa, an awned, semi-dwarf variety with white kernels, has a good disease resistance package and offers earlier maturity than most other general purpose lines, said Gehl.
The SeCan variety is suited to production in the eastern Prairies, he added.
GP010 is another general purpose line developed by Agriculture Canada wheat breeders in Swift Current. Canterra holds the distribution rights to that line.
In the red spring (CWRS) class, at least seven new varieties are expected to make their commercial debut within the next few years.
From the CDC program, BW880, BW881, BW83 and PT757 were expected to receive approval from the CFIA by early 2010.
BW880, which will be distributed by Viterra, offers high yield potential and good grain quality and leaf disease resistance.
“This is a line that (CDC wheat breeder) Pierre Hucl has been quite excited about for several years,” Rossnagel said.
“It combines good leaf resistance with a very good quality package.”
Another CDC line, BW881 is well suited to the dark brown soil zone and performed well in organic production systems. The line, to be distributed by Canterra, has a fair rating for fusarium head blight.
BW883 is the CDC’s newest midge tolerant offering.
It offers maturity similar to Goodeve and higher yield potential. FP Genetics holds the distribution rights.
PT575 is a Clearfield type with good yield, earlier maturity than CDC Imagine and higher protein levels. Distribution rights are held by Cargill.
“Pierre Hucl’s program had an outstanding year last year, particularly for wheat,” Rossnagel said.
“It produced just an incredible number of varieties.”
Agriculture Canada breeders also spawned several new varieties last year, including CWRS offerings Carberry, Muchmore and Shaw.
Carberry, developed in Swift Current, is an awned semi-dwarf variety with high grain yield, high protein levels and improved resistance to fusarium head blight.
Muchmore, a cross of Alsen and Superb, is an awned, semi-dwarf variety with high grain yield, short, strong straw and intermediate resistance to fusarium headblight.
It is resistant to leaf rust, stem rust and common bunt and offers protein concentrations and maturity similar to Superb.
Shaw is an awnless midge tolerant variety to be marketed as a varietal blend with AC Domain as the refuge.
The SeCan variety is a standard height wheat with plant growth slightly taller than AC Barrie and maturity similar to McKenzie and Unity VB.
It also offers a good disease resistance package but is moderately susceptible to fusarium head blight and rates poor for resistance to loose smut.
Other notable Agriculture Canada lines include Enterprise, a conventional gluten strength durum with improved fusarium reaction, and HY682, a high-yielding, awned CPS line with tolerance to wheat midge.
HY682 offered consistently high yields across all soil zones in Western Canada and good resistance to stem rust, leaf rust and common bunt.
Other new lines of wheat that may be up for registration
>> BW407, BW410 and BW415 are awned CWRS lines from Agriculture Canada. They offer good leaf and stem rust reactions and improved reactions to fusarium head blight. BW407, a short, strong-strawed line, is derived from Superb while BW410 is derived from McKenzie. BW415, which appears to have the highest yield potential of the three new lines, is a midge tolerant line derived from AC Barrie.>> GP044, GP045 and GP047 are white seeded, semi-dwarf lines, developed at the Lethbridge Research Centre. They have high yield potential and are resistant to leaf and stem rust but are susceptible to fusarium head blight, common bunt and loose smut.>> GP038 offers intermediate resistance to fusarium headblight and is moderately susceptible to common bunt and loose smut.>> DT801 and DT809 are durum wheat lines developed in Swift Current. DT801 has improved reaction to fusarium head blight, taller, stronger straw than DT809 and higher grain protein. DT809 has better yield potential.>> ES110 is a CWES wheat line developed in Winnipeg that has higher yield potential than Glenlea and CDC Rama. It also has shorter straw, larger kernel size, higher test weights and a good disease resistance package.>> W434 is a select CWRW wheat line developed in Lethbridge that offers taller, stronger straw than CDC Falcon, similar maturity to Falcon, similar winter survival, larger kernel size and higher grain protein. It performed well in rust prone areas and has moderate resistance to common bunt.>> W425 is a non-select CWRW wheat line with good yield potential and an agronomic package similar to CDC Falcon. >> T200 triticale has high yield potential and an excellent disease resistance package, with agronomic traits similar to Pronghorn, AC Certa and AC Ultima.
