Most Argentine canola growers are aware of the benefits of hybrid seed: increased yield potential and vigorous growth.
But farmers who grow Polish varieties have not had the option of seeding hybrids.
They do, however, have synthetic Polish canola – an intermediate step toward hybrid varieties – which seems to have found favor with growers, seed companies and researchers.
“It’s a natural progression,” said Agriculture Canada scientist and synthetic canola developer Kevin Falk in Saskatoon.
Since 1994, more than 10 synthetic varieties of Polish canola have been developed.
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Scientists have failed to produce commercial Polish canola hybrids because the plants are much harder for breeders to manipulate than Argentine varieties.
But Falk said some of the advantages in hybrids can be found in synthetic varieties.
Synthetic doesn’t mean artificial; it means the variety is a mixture, or synthesis, of three types of canola plants. Two are open pollinated, “parent” varieties of Polish canola, the third is the hybrid offspring produced by matings between the two parents.
The strength in the synthetic variety lies with the different plants in the mix. Each performs differently in different weather and soil conditions, Falk said.
This should stabilize yields from year to year.
“I’m encouraged by the stability they offer in performance over years,” Falk said. “I think that’s more important than peaks and troughs.”
And it also offers some hybrid vigor, Falk said.
“I think it’s the way to go. It narrows the gap between Polish yields and Argentine.”
Synthetic seed varieties generally cost more than regular open pollinated Polish varieties, but should cost less than hybrid seed, Falk said.
He said synthetics generally sell for $2 to $2.50 per pound, while Argentine hybrids sell for about $4 per lb.
Not a do-it-yourself job
It may sound tempting for a producer to try to develop his own synthetic variety by mixing two seed stocks, but Falk said it isn’t that easy.
Breeders must consider many issues such as agronomic and quality factors.
The evolution in breeding Polish canola is following the course taken by corn and sunflower researchers, Falk said. The crop was taken from being all open-pollinated, through to synthetic variety, to the final development of hybrids.
The first synthetic canolas were recommended in 1993 and registered in 1994.
Today, the majority of recommended Polish varieties are synthetic.
Falk said researchers and seed companies have thrown their weight behind synthetic canola development to the point where traditional open-pollinated varieties are being left behind.
All of this, he said, is driven by producers’ desire for more reliable crops.
Falk said that with luck, full hybrid Polish canolas might come onto the market in about two years.
“The question will be whether they will perform as well as their synthetic predecessors,” he said.
