It’s “strike two, you’re out” for Alsen wheat.
The fusarium-resistant variety has been rejected for a second time by the grain industry group that evaluates new varieties and recommends them for registration.
That means it’s now illegal to sell Alsen as seed in Canada.
It also means that after July 31, Alsen will be eligible only for Canada Feed grade.
Canterra Seeds, the Canadian agent for the U.S.-developed variety, was seeking an extension of Alsen’s one-year interim registration.
That request was initially turned down by the Prairie Registration Recommending Committee for Grain at its annual meeting in February.
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The main problem was high levels of alpha-amylase, an enzyme that adversely affects the bread-making qualities of flour produced from the wheat. There were also concerns about flour colour and kernel hardness.
Canterra appealed the decision to the PRRCG’s wheat sub-committee in late March.
In an electronic ballot March 28, the sub-committee voted 24-19 to uphold the original decision. There was one abstention, and 37 of the sub-committee’s 81 members did not cast a vote.
At the February meeting, the vote was 35-26, with one abstention and 19 not voting.
Canterra spokesperson Margaret Coyle said the company was disappointed with the decision, but will enter Alsen into a third year of co-operative test trials in 2003.
Based on the results of those trials, the company will decide whether to put the variety forward for registration again at the February 2004 PRRCG meeting.
“If we can get No. 1 and No. 2 grade, we feel confident it will meet the falling number criteria,” she said.
Coyle said good growing conditions in 2003 could make a big difference in whether Alsen gets registered.
The appeal was based in part on data provided by Canterra indicating that while samples grading 3 CWRS had a low falling number, which indicates high alpha-amylase, that wasn’t the case with samples grading 1 CW and 2 CW.
The company also provided data from 25 other test sites where Alsen was grown adjacent to a check variety that showed an acceptable falling number.
However, the committee decided its decision should be based on the data gathered from the formal co-op test trials, which clearly indicated an alpha-amylase problem.
Some farm groups have criticized the PRRCG’s decision, saying the threat of fusarium is so great that any variety showing even moderate resistance should be made available to farmers.
“Farmers in Manitoba and elsewhere suffering from heavy fusarium infestation need a variety that is resistant to this disease,” said Rick Metzger of the Western Canadian Wheat Growers Association.
Alsen works for farmers and is readily accepted by the milling industry in the U.S., he said.
“This rejection is a completely unacceptable outcome of our variety selection process.”
However, others in the industry say it would be foolhardy to register a variety that doesn’t meet basic quality standards.
Gord Flaten, who represents the Canadian Wheat Board on the PRRCG wheat sub-committee, agreed with the decision not to extend interim registration.
However, he also said the board recognizes that fusarium is a big problem for many producers and supports putting it through a third year of trials.
“It’s very important that we know for sure one way or another if the quality is acceptable,” he said.
While it seems clear from two years of data that it isn’t, growing conditions were unusual last year and there’s nothing to be lost by trying again.
“Just on the off chance that a third year would show something different, I think we should know that,” he said.
