South Perth, Western Australia
December 15, 2008
 Lupin
growers are encouraged to have seed tested for manganese levels
before next season, after reports of split and discoloured seed
in the northern agricultural areas.
Department of Agriculture
and Food development officer Greg Shea said split seed was
usually caused by the low availability of manganese to the
maturing crop.
“Some of these affected crops can have low manganese levels in
the seed, which in turn can cause poor establishment when sown
next year,” he said.
“Farmers should send a seed sample to be tested by a plant
analysis service.
“The sooner testing is done, the better, so that growers can
still have flexibility on sourcing good seed for next year.”
Mr Shea said plants suffering manganese deficiency show delayed
maturity and produced lower yields.
“The seed from these crops may also be small, shrivelled and
poorly developed,” he said.
“The split seed problem occurs mainly in slightly acidic grey
sands, yellow sands and gravelly sands, common in the Northern
Agricultural Region and in the higher rainfall zones.
“Using manganese fertiliser at sowing won’t overcome the poor
establishment caused by the low manganese content of the seed,
however, manganese fertiliser treatment will stop split seed
occurring in the future.” |
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