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Triticale breaks the ’10-tonnes-per-hectare’ barrier

April 26, 2005

jessop.thumb.jpgAgronomists at The University of New England have broken the elusive barrier of “10 tonnes per hectare” for the yield of a wheat-related grain crop.

“We’ve done what we set out to do,” said Associate Professor Robin Jessop (pictured here), who leads the UNE team that has been working towards that goal for the past 25 years. “It’s a heck of a step up.”

Dr Jessop has always suspected that triticale, a hybrid cross between wheat and rye, had the potential to yield more than 10 tonnes per hectare. (Achieving this yield, for the grain producer, is somewhat analogous to “breaking the sound barrier” in aeronautics.) “For comparison, Australia’s average wheat yield is only two tonnes per hectare, and even in Europe the yield does not exceed six to eight tonnes per hectare,” he said.

While much of the UNE research has focused on developing high-yielding varieties of triticale, Dr Jessop emphasised the importance of “better management” in attaining this landmark yield. “You can do more with weed control, nutrition and timely sowing than you can with new varieties,” he said.

The record-breaking result was achieved on experimental plots at UNE’s Laureldale Research Station near Armidale. In a controlled experiment, the researchers planted 10 varieties of triticale on both irrigated and non-irrigated plots. (The irrigated plots received one 12-mm application of water at flowering, and all plots received the same amount of superphosphate.) Not unexpectedly, the irrigated plots produced about 20 per cent more grain than the non-irrigated plots, the highest-performing variety (as yet unnamed) producing 10.7 tonnes per hectare. Dr Jessop emphasised the point that these yields were from experimental plots, and that commercial yields would be expected to be lower (except under irrigated conditions where more than 12 mm of water could be applied).

The experimental triticale met every expectation that, despite its abundant growth, it would not fall over (or “lodge”) before harvesting. “Harvesting was dead easy,” he said. “It’s been specially bred with this in mind. In comparison, many wheat varieties will lodge at high yields like this. ”

Dr Jessop admitted that, during the experiment (between July last year and January this year), “conditions were in our favour”. “We’ve shown that, given the best conditions, triticale has the potential to produce very high yields,” he said. “One of our aims now is to develop and distribute a management package for the newer varieties of triticale that will enable producers to achieve big increases in yield. This will complement our continuing effort to develop varieties that have high-yield potential.” (While most triticale is grown in southern NSW and northern Victoria, there are already about 20 producers in the New England region.) Another important aim of the researchers is to contribute to the growth of Australia’s pork industry, which is a major consumer of triticale. The UNE research is done in conjunction with the Corowa-based pork producers QAF Stockfeeds.


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. Please contact Jim Scanlan for copies of the photograph displayed here.

Posted by Jim Scanlan at April 26, 2005 03:05 PM