FIELD LAB: ORGANIC WHEAT VARIETIES PART 2 – THE RESULTS
Results and Discussions - Spring Assessments
average positive spring traits, whilst Evolution performed consistently below average across these traits. Many other traits contribute to yield and quality and it should be noted that despite it’s apparent deficiency in terms of spring vigour, Evolution was the highest yielding variety in the plot trial.
Figure 3 - Montana in April showing farmer votes (white pegs) for their favourite variety.
Growth Habit
Table 1 - Crop trait values from spring assessments, around BBCH 30-32 for variables of crop ground cover, crop height, crop relative biomass, growth stage and growth habit. Colour scale indicates above average and below average (pale green is above average, pale red is below average for traits deemed positive in Spring e.g. crop cover, crop height, biomass. Bold green and red represent the highest and lowest values respectively for the trait. Traits deemed neutral (can be desirable or undesirable depending on crop management and cropping system) e.g. growth stage and growth habit are coloured orange on a colour scale ranging from pale to bold for lowest to highest. For neutral traits of GS and GH, above average values are written in green and below average values are in red. Variables followed by the same letters are not significantly different according to Tukey’s HSD test.
The above table shows different crop traits that can be easily measured around stem extension, a key growth stage
Figure 2 - Boxplot showing growth habit in April (BBCH 31) of each variety assessed using a 1-5 scale where 1=erect and 5= prostrate. SEN1=Hallfreda.
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signalling the end of the Foundation Phase and the start of the Construction Phase. Several of the traits relate to crop vigour in the spring, which is desirable for organic farming, offering greater competition from the crop against weeds and for resource capture. Extase and AWC3 showed consistently above
A relatively simple assessment to perform, varieties can be classed according to five growth habit groups from 1 (erect) to 5 (prostrate). This trait may have implications for the crop management as shown below in the farmer rankings with different weeding strategies dependent on certain growth habits e.g. erect types may be better for inter row hoeing. The trait may also provide an indication of competitiveness, with erect types generally taller and the prostrate types generally providing greater groundcover. Which of these traits may be most useful will depend on a number of factors including the farm (soil, weed community etc.) and the year. At a field lab meeting in April, farmers were given the opportunity to vote for their favourite variety based on the phenotypes in front of them. Most of the farmers expressed a preference for
Table 2- Farmer Preferences
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