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New soft white spring wheat features yield boostDate posted: July 5, 2002A new Canada Western Soft White Spring wheat line developed by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s Lethbridge Research Centre features a significant yield jump over current varieties. SWS-285 was recommended for registration earlier this year and seed should be available to producers in 2005, says Dr. Sadash Sadasivaiah, the Centre’s soft white spring wheat breeder. It outyields acreage leader AC Reed by nine percent, features stronger adult-plant resistance to the new race of stripe rust, and carries a solid overall agronomic and quality package. “This variety adds a higher-yielding option to the portfolio of premium quality soft white spring wheats available to western Canadian farmers,” says Sadasivaiah. Soft white wheat is lower in protein than other classes, providing a flaky texture vital to the pastry industry. Soft white wheat is also an ingredient in Asian noodles, flatbreads, pizza dough and breakfast cereals. Like the other soft white wheat varieties from the Lethbridge program, SWS-285 is adapted to the irrigated regions of southern Alberta and Saskatchewan, he says. It matures one to two days later than AC Reed and AC Phil, but showed several advantages over those and other varieties through the three years of pre-registration testing. In addition to outyielding AC Reed by nine percent, SWS-285 yielded seven percent higher than AC Phil. It also has good lodging and shattering resistance. Testing indicates SWS-285 has good adult-plant resistance to the new stripe rust race, SLR-Y2K, which first appeared in 2000. Seedlings appear susceptible to the disease, as is the case with AC Reed and AC Phil. SWS-285 has varied resistance to stem and leaf rust, ranging from moderately resistant to moderately susceptible. However, the line also has resistance to powdery mildew and moderate resistance to blackpoint, two of the major traditional disease threats of soft white spring wheat in Western Canada. Like most other soft white wheat cultivars, SWS-285 is susceptible to bunt. It is also moderately susceptible to loose smut. Further yield gains are on the way for soft white wheat producers, says Sadasivaiah. AC Andrew, another Lethbridge Research Centre variety, set for release in 2003, yields even higher than SWS-285. AC Andrew is the first variety of a new quality stream that is tailored for price-driven export markets. “Essentially, with AC Andrew and future varieties aimed at the less quality-conscious export markets, we have traded a bit of quality for higher yield,” says Sadasivaiah. “While not as high-yielding as AC Andrew, SWS-285 pushes the yield envelope for soft white wheat varieties targeted at domestic markets and quality-conscious export markets.” Tony Crooymans and Sons, of Picture Butte, is handling seed multiplication and distribution of SWS-285. Research on the new Canada Western Soft White Spring wheat line conducted at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s Lethbridge Research Centre illustrates the government’s commitment to promote innovation for growth, maintain security of the food system and protect the health of the environment, as proposed in the new Agriculture Policy Framework. The framework aims to increase profitability for producers by giving them the tools and capabilities to respond to constantly changing consumer demands for safe food produced in an environmentally responsible way.
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© 2002 Meristem Land and Science | |
Farmer Check-off driving new opportunities for wheat and barley 
