Page 18 April, 2019
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Summary of Sheri Strydhorst’s Agronomy Update Presentation on January 20, 2015
PGRs are synthetic products that impact hormone activity within the plant.
Considering Plant Growth Regulators (PGR) on Wheat? What You Need to Know Introduction Lodging is a major factor in our cereal crops in Western Canada. As a farmer I understand how it feels to fight with a flat wheat crop at harvest. The heart sinking feeling of pulling into a field with the combines and seeing what was a beautiful wheat crop now flat on the ground and knowing how difficult it’s going to be to harvest is a common feeling among growers. Not only is lodging inconvenient but Sheri cites that It can reduce yield by anywhere from 7% to 35% and decrease grade through sprouting. Can we look to Plant Growth Regulators (PGRs) to help us with these issues in
Western Canada? Is it cost effective or only for convenience? First of all, what are PGRs? These synthetic products impact hormone activity within the plant.
There are two types of PGRS: 1. Ethylene releasing compounds. These PGRs shorten crops by blocking auxin transport, auxin being the plant hormone responsible for cell elongation and shoot growth. An example of this is the product Ethrel by Bayer Crop Science. Although these products are available they are not recomened by Bayer Crop Science due to the very small application window and risk of damage if the window is not hit perfectly. 2. Inhibitors of GA biosynthesis. These inhibit early gibberellin biosynthesis which is the plant hormone that stimulates longitudinal
Figure 1. Adequate Moisture (263-425mm). No yield increase for CCC (Manipulator) on Foremost CPS wheat in these three growing environments.
