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Triticale: field day points to abundant future

November 18, 2004

thumb.Jessop.jpgFarmers, agronomists and agricultural consultants from throughout the Northern Tablelands saw evidence today that triticale (a hybrid cross between wheat and rye) could yield up to 10 tonnes of grain per hectare.

They were attending a Triticale Field Day at the University of New England’s Laureldale Research Station, where experimental crops of triticale were on display.

UNE’s Associate Professor Robin Jessop (pictured here, centre), the agronomist who leads the University’s triticale research program, said that the average wheat yield in Australia was two tonnes per hectare, but that the “hybrid vigour” of triticale allowed much higher yields. “Our aim is to design an agronomic package that will allow an optimum yield of 10 tonnes per hectare,” Dr Jessop said.

He pointed out that triticale thrived in “somewhat adverse conditions”, such as the cool Northern Tablelands climate, and that it was available in forage, grain, and dual-purpose varieties. “The market for triticale has opened up,” he said, “particularly for its use by dairy farmers as both grain and forage.”

As well as the specific benefits of triticale, the field day focused on the threat of rust disease to grain growers generally. Dr Jessop was one of the scientists who identified, in 1978, Australia’s first outbreak of stripe rust, a disease that went on to affect a large proportion of Australia’s wheat crop. He talked today about a new variety of stripe rust that arrived in Western Australia in 2002 and then spread to the eastern States. He said the New England climate provided ideal conditions for this disease, which thrived in Europe.

He emphasised the need for vigilance, as “mutations of stripe rust occur regularly, with the result that resistant varieties of cereal crops start to be attacked”. The 35 participants in the field day had a chance to examine rust-affected plants, enabling them to identify the disease if ever they should encounter it.

Returning to triticale, Dr Jessop said he was optimistic about its future on the Northern Tablelands. The real potential here was likely to be in dual-purpose varieties, he said, and UNE would soon be releasing several more of these. It would also be releasing new grain-only varieties with higher levels of resistance to stripe rust. “As long as markets continue to open, and we can minimise the threat of disease, the crop will continue to grow,” he said.


Media contact: Associate Professor Robin Jessop, School of Rural Science and Agriculture, UNE (02) 6773 2502 or Jim Scanlan, Public Relations, UNE (02) 6773 3049.
Photographs are available. Please contact Jim Scanlan on (02) 6773 3049.

Posted by Jim Scanlan at November 18, 2004 04:57 PM