Canola without petals: That’s like bread without butter.
But Zeneca’s latest oilseed research is taking the golden color out of blooming canola fields in an attempt to fight the disease sclerotinia.
It has research plots of a new Argentine variety growing at several sites across the Prairies.
“It doesn’t look quite like other canola crops. Sort of a greeny-yellow,” said Brian Andrew, of Zeneca.
The company hopes to register the new apetalous or petal-free plant next February and make it available to growers in the spring of 2000.
Read Also
Phosphate prices to remain high
Phosphate prices are expected to remain elevated, according to Mosaic’s president.
The search for ways to reduce the incidence of sclerotinia in canola crops led Zeneca researchers to the mechanics of how the fungus gets its start.
The fungus is present on many plants, but some are affected more severely than others. It is known that moist conditions cause higher infection rates and that once the sclerotinia spores get their start, the only treatment is fungicide. The petals fall from the buds and become lodged on and against the plants, causing moisture buildup that encourages fungus growth.
Reduce the petals and you reduce fungus, they reasoned.
The new, open-pollinated plant doesn’t have petals, but retains the green-yellow sepal that supports the petals.
Petal-less canola plants occur as natural canola mutations. Zeneca researchers in Australia took advantage of that trait and used conventional breeding methods to put it into the new variety along with other favorable traits. The new plant shows some blackleg resistance and increased yield traits, say researchers.
“There may be another benefit to the plant,” said Blaine Dubreuiel, an agronomist with Zeneca. “We can’t be sure, but it seems that all those pretty petals reflect a lot of sunlight that might otherwise be involved in photosynthesis. The extra light reaching the leaves might improve plant growth as well.”
The new variety has fared well against standards like Legacy and Cyclone XL, producing yields five percent better than the older varieties, says the company.
