Canada might be the first country to approve a Clearfield wheat, but wheat producing states will soon follow.
Guy Zummo, global marketing manger for Clearfield cereals, said the company expects a Clearfield wheat will also begin commercial production on a small acreage in Australia this year.
“In the United States, we are looking at a commercial launch of Clearfield wheat in 2002, both spring and winter varieties.
“We are also working with a lot of major key wheat countries on the introduction of Clearfield wheat.”
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In Canada, in addition to research with the University of Saskatchewan’s Crop Development Centre, BASF is also working with the Proven Seed-Agripro Wheat partnership.
Zummo said the trait allowing imidazolinone tolerance was derived by chemical-induced mutagenesis, a plant breeding technique in use for many decades that does not involve genetic transfer.
Mutations involved
Pierre Hucl, a wheat breeder at the Crop Development Centre, said 1,000 or more natural mutations can occur in a large wheat field. Mutation, or change, is a natural part of evolution. The mutations can be caused by many influences such as solar radiation or chemicals.
“You can increase the frequency of these mutations by treating seed with any number of substances. In this case it was a product called sodium azide,” he said.
Because the Clearfield wheat is not a genetically modified organism, it is acceptable to European Union regulators, so BASF is working with EU breeders developing wheat and durum lines.
“We have field trials going in this fall in Italy and Spain and then in South America,” Zummo said.
The company thinks farmers will be interested in Clearfield wheat for the same reasons many like the Clearfield system in canola. The imidazolinone family of herbicides provides contact and residual control of a wide spectrum of broadleaf and grassy weeds.
Made-to-order
For wheat, BASF has specially designed a new herbicide called Adrenalin. It contains two chemicals, imazamox and 2,4-D LV700 ester. Bruce McTavish, Clearfield marketing manager for BASF Canada, said it will control wild oats and green foxtail that are resistant to other herbicide groups and also hard-to-kill weeds such as jointed goat grass.
“It will also be able to control off-type wheat varieties and barley, the volunteer wheat and barley, out of the crop.”
This will result in lower dockage and the ability to produce a pure crop without volunteers from previous wheat crops of other varieties, he said.
Zummo said BASF is aware of farmers’ concerns about the expansion of herbicide-tolerant systems and the possible buildup of resistant weed populations through overuse.
The company plans to promote a stewardship program with the launch of the Clearfield wheats to encourage best management practices to discourage herbicide resistance, he said.
