Australia
June 15, 2005 

Peter Reid, CSIRO plant breeder, discusses the new release CSIRO/CSD varieties for the 2005 planting. 

Peter, the CSIRO has introduced a number of new varieties this season. Could you introduce them to us.

We have been able to complete the suite of transgenic varieties in three families. The Sicala 43, the Sicot 80 and the Sicot 71 families so now we have a much fuller range of transgenics in these types so I will just run through the different ones which will be available.

Starting with the 43 family, we now have in addition to the Sicala 43 conventional we have a Sicot 43 Roundup Ready® which will be a useful addition. The 43 family in general is a compact growing medium, early to medium maturing type, quite good fibre quality. So the 43 Roundup Ready the main advantage of it is its extra yield for instance over V-2 Roundup Ready it has got about a 6% yield advantage so V-2 Roundup Ready has been a very successful variety particularly in the Southern growing areas so I think the 43 will be very useful and very importantly the 43 Roundup® has about a .06 advantage in fibre length over V-2 Roundup® so that’s quite a boost.

In terms of the other members, one of the other members of the 43 group is the Sicot 43B. For the cooler, Eastern Southern areas, people who want a straight Bollgard II® and its about a 4% yield advantage over Sicala 40B. So a similar sort of type I guess to that.

Another addition is the Sicot 43BR and this is quite an interesting type. A little bit more vigorous growing than the other 43 family and but quite a good yield performer. If we compare it with Sicala 60BR which has been quite successful commercially, the 43BR has about a 5% yield advantage. So that will give farmers another very good choice in the Bollgard II® Roundup Ready®, particularly in the Southern and central areas.

Yes a 6% yield improvement over the 60BR that has done so well this year would certainly excite people in some of those Macquarie and Lachlan and some of those areas.

Yes for sure and another feature of it, it does seem to have quite reasonable fusarium resistance (128 (4)) so its probably a little bit better than the 60BR so quite an interesting one I think.

So do you see the 43 family as something that growers are obviously going to be interested in, Sicot 71 in a lot of areas but as you go further South that proportion of Sicot 43 that you would grow with Sicot71 would increase?

Yes, certainly the 71’s are exciting and in good seasons they will undoubtedly have the highest yield but I think in the more southern/eastern areas people should look at a mix of varieties and things like the 43 and people have been using the 60. They have been very successful and I think they should continue to look at these types to give them a bit more of a buffer against the bad season.

There were some other families Peter, which one would you like to move onto now?

I will move on to the Sicot 80 group which of course is the vigorous full season types which have been grown mainly in the sort of fuller longer season parts of the industry from the Namoi, north and west and also very successful dryland. So we are fully Sicot 80B which was available in limited quantities last year will not be fully available and the other addition is 80 Roundup Ready®. So just touching on the 80RR, its quite a boost over what the sort of types have been available currently in Roundup Ready for instance against 239RR it has a 7% yield advantage so for people who are looking for that fuller season Roundup Ready its quite a boost.

How is its fibre quality compared to that Sicot 289 Peter?

Importantly its got quite a bit better staple length and we know that the 80 family has good staple length and certainly compared to the 289R its about .04 of an inch up so you know quite a boost and certainly would be a good insurance for people who might have a bit of water stress or in dryland for instance if people want to grow a Roundup Ready.

So in terms of the 80B which people have had a look at this year it’s had I guess a bit of a mixed year commercially but I think its still has a place in the fuller season areas. In terms of a good fibre package and good disease package and also in dryland I think it has been doing very well in trials in the CSD Large Scale Trials its outyielded Siokra V-16B for instance by about 9% so that’s quite a boost I think and with good fibre quality, comparable fibre quality to V-16B. So that I think is having it fully available I think will give farmers a good option in the straight Bollgard II® lines.

And, Peter now to the jewel in the crown, I guess the Sicot 71 family. Could you introduce some of the new varieties there to us?

We have been able to complete the suite of transgenics so we now have the Sicot 71RR and the Sicot 71B in addition to the Sicot 71BR will be fully available this year and people have obviously had a fair look at the 71BR but these other two I think are very exciting.

We have had some tremendous yields out of Sicot71 conventional and the Sicot 71BR this past season so I think the addition of these other two will really complete the suite nicely.

In terms of the Sicot 71RR, we have in our trials have had about a 10% yield advantage over Sicot 289 RR so that’s a tremendous boost and I think farmers who are interested in the Roundup® technology and don’t want the Bollgard II® you know it really does give them a great option to pursue those high yields.

In terms of the Sicot 71B, I think this is also a great boost. Some people would like the Bollgard II® without the Roundup Ready ® and certainly with the Sicot 71 they have got a type which they can shoot for the high yields. In terms of yield it has been fairly comparable with the 71BR in our trials and compared to the 289B it has been about 7% higher yielding, so for most of the industry you know it gives them another option I think in the high yield but we do emphasise the 71 family are quite full season and as we were discussing before they really need to be careful in some of the southern and eastern areas where if you have a bad season you could struggle a bit with the 71 types.

The Sicot 71B Peter, how does its fibre quality stack up?

Very good, its quite a bit longer than the Sicot 71BR so at least a 32nd of an inch longer so I think that gives people a little bit more confidence I think in growing this types and if they may run into a little bit of water stress for some reason so that’s one of the key features I think are the 71BR are quite a bit better fibre package.

Just highlighting again the 71BR I mean it will be fully available this year but in terms of yield performance and our trials its been showing about a 5% yield advantage over 289BR of one of the other major Bollgard Roundup’s grown and you know in the CSD large scale trials its just been outstanding I think it is something like topped 29 out of 34 trials I think which is just incredible record so you know I think it will undoubtedly be a huge variety again in this coming season.

Just summarising then, the areas where the 71 family fits versus the 80 family versus the 43 family, can we talk about the geographic areas?

Well, the 71’s really are broadly adapted and people have been getting successful crops from the Lachlan to Emerald and that’s certainly, we are reasonably happy with that, we just emphasise I guess in the more southern and eastern areas, in the slightly shorter season areas people should have a mix of varieties really and have something else as well as the 71 and not put all their eggs in that basket. It is still a pretty full season variety and in a cooler season it could struggle.

The 80 family really is the longer season part of the central areas, say from the Namoi to the North and west and also dryland so we certainly don’t encourage people to grow them in the southern valleys or in the eastern parts. I know there is a bit grown on the downs in places but certainly people need to be careful in those sort of environments with a fairly vigorous late variety.

And the 43’s you know really do compliment particularly the 71 family I think in the sort of the southern and eastern areas there. They give farmers a bit more confidence they can handle that bad season if they have a proportion of their farm to something like the 43BR or 43B or even the 43RR.

Further Information: 
Dr Stephen Allen, Robert Eveleigh, John Marshall,  Craig McDonald, David Kelly or James Quinn