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May 12, 2003
Crop Doctor from the
Grains Research & Development
Corporation
New varieties from the northern
grains regionıs wheat breeding joint ventures Enterprise
Grains Australia and
Sunprime Seeds as well as new barleys are to be assessed
for herbicide susceptibility before commercial release.
Independent screening by a specialist team from Queenslandıs
Department of Primary Industries (QDPI) will avoid a repeat of
the recent experience of the wheat variety Giles being found to
be sensitive to sulfonylurea herbicides.
And, at the request of growers, the continuing research that
lets Queensland and northern NSW graingrowers consider weed and
herbicide requirements when they are deciding what varieties to
plant is to be extended to Central Queensland.
The Central Queensland Research Advisory Committee asked for
herbicide tolerance screening under local conditions after
herbicide damage was observed in a number of wheat varieties in
the area in 2000.
Grower concern about the differing impacts of particular
herbicides sprayed on different varieties growing side by side
led the Grains Research and Development Corporation four years
ago to support a susceptibility project by the QDPI team.
The scientists began rating the susceptibility of 20 wheat and
10 barley varieties to 12 herbicides, "identifying considerable
differential tolerance between cultivars".
They found yield losses that ranged up to 20% in 1999 ("an
average season") and up to 40% in 2000 ("a very dry season") for
several cultivars sprayed with registered herbicides at the
recommended rate.
Wide industry distribution of varietal susceptibility ratings
developed by the project has allowed growers to use them in
planting decisions for the last three years.
Now the projectıs been extended to June 30, 2006, to include
besides emerging wheat and barley lines from the breeding
programs other herbicides that are used in the northern grains
region but which have not been included in the research so far.
Project leader, principal agronomist Steve Walker, says lines
within two years of commercial release will be selected for
screening in consultation with the breeding teams.
"They will be tested at trial sites on the Darling Downs, with a
standard set of the 10 herbicides most commonly used in the
northern region," Dr Walker said.
"Each new line will be tested over a minimum of three seasons,
two before release and during the year of release, while the
most commonly grown bread and durum wheats and barleys will be
selected each year.
"This year we till spray 20 current lines of wheat including
the recent releases EGA Hume and EGA Bellaroi - - with 12
herbicides and17 advanced ones from the breeding programs with
another 10, different products.
"Eight current barleys including new releases Mackay and
Binalong and two advanced lines will be treated with 12
herbicides."
Dr Walker said northern region researchers had worked closely
with similar GRDC supported projects in NSW and Western
Australia, seeking national consistency.
Data from the northern research would be compared to results
from NSW Agriculture in Wagga Wagga. If real differences were
identified, the northern project might need to set up a trial
site in northern NSW, probably at Tamworth.
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