Australia
September 3, 2010
Two new field pea varieties to be launched this spring will offer growers in the southern region more options to manage and optimise their field pea production.
The new varieties, PBA Gunyah and PBA Twilight , are the latest varieties on offer from Pulse Breeding Australia (PBA). They will be available through PBA’s field pea commercial partner AWB Seeds for the 2011 growing season.
Leader of the PBA field pea breeding program, Tony Leonforte, says PBA Gunyah and PBA Twilight will provide the same agronomic benefits of the existing variety Kaspa , in relation to lodging and pod shatter resistance at harvest, but both are much earlier flowering, have significantly higher grain yield and will be more reliable in low to medium rainfall environments.
“PBA Gunyah has a longer flowering duration than PBA Twilight and will be better suited to longer growing seasons. PBA Twilight is relatively earlier flowering and will be better suited to shorter growing season climates,” said Mr Leonforte, who is the field pea breeder with the Department of Primary Industries Victoria.
“Growers in low rainfall regions have the option of growing both PBA Gunyah and PBA Twilight to manage the risk of low seasonal rainfall or paddock variability and still market grain from either variety as ‘Kaspa type’.
“Both varieties are better suited than Kaspa to the practices of delayed sowing for disease management and crop topping to control annual ryegrass.”
Mr Leonforte said variety brochures will be available for both PBA Gunyah and PBA Twilight to assist growers with making variety choices and managing these field peas for optimal crop performance.
Release of the varieties is supported by growers and the Australian Government through the Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC) and PBA partner agencies.
PBA is a world class breeding and germplasm enhancement program delivering improved field pea, chickpea, faba bean, lentil and lupin varieties to Australian growers.
GRDC southern panel chair, David Shannon, says the new field pea varieties are part of a pipeline of pulse varieties being released by PBA over a five year period.
“The GRDC, along with the other PBA partners, is pleased to support PBA in bringing growers varieties with improved yield, harvestability, disease resistance, tolerance to abiotic stresses, quality and weed management,” Mr Shannon said.
“These new PBA varieties will ensure pulses continue to enhance the viability of farming systems throughout the southern cropping zone, and their release is another demonstration of growers’ levies at work and contributing to positive industry outcomes.”
PBA is able to deliver new varieties across the Australian cropping regions by combining grower contributions (via the GRDC) with partner agency resources to deploy a shared vision of better varieties faster for the benefit of all growers.
PBA partners are the GRDC, Department of Primary Industries, Victoria (DPI Vic), South Australian Research and Development Institute (SARDI), Queensland Primary Industries and Fisheries (QPI&F) as part the Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation (DEEDI), New South Wales Department of Industry & Investment (NSW I&I), Department of Agriculture and Food Western Australia (DAFWA), University of Adelaide and Pulse Australia.
The field peas will be launched in:
• Victoria on Thursday, September 9, at the Birchip Cropping Group Field Day.
• South Australia on Tuesday, September 21, at the Hart Field Day.
• New South Wales on Friday, October 8, at the Central West Farming Systems Rankin Springs Regional Site Field Day
The new varieties will also be promoted at other field days and events throughout the southern region.
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Species
