Contact:
James.Holden@Pioneer.com
07 4637 2966
8-Mar-06
Profitability makes hybrids and the Clearfield® production system a winner in canola
The potential for more than $100 per hectare improvement in canola profitability from growing hybrid canola and those with the CLEARFIELD® trait of herbicide resistance was demonstrated in a trial conducted by Southern Farming Systems (SFS) last season. Conducted on a property at Inverleigh in the Western Districts of Victoria, the SFS trial compared 20 canola hybrids and varieties from the Clearfield, triazine tolerant (TT) and conventional types side-by-side with each other.
Four of the top six performers were canola hybrids, which demonstrates their potential for higher yields than standard open-pollinated canola varieties.
Hybrid canola seed is the result of controlled cross-pollination of male and female canola inbred parents during the production process. The resulting hybrid vigour leads to larger seed, higher yield and stress tolerance.
Many of the GRDC trials conducted in recent years do not have direct comparisons between triazine tolerant, varieties with the Clearfield trait, and conventional varieties, so it has been difficult to evaluate yields between these types of canola.
The SFS comparison demonstrated the clear yield advantage of conventional and Clearfield options over TT canola.
Pioneer® variety 46C76 with the Clearfield (CL) trait was the highest yielding herbicide tolerant variety at 2.65 tonnes per hectare in the SFS trial. 46C76 yielded almost one tonne per hectare more than current commercial TT varieties, ATR-Grace and ATR-Beacon and 154 kilograms per hectare better than the best TT canola.
The ability of varieties such as 46C76 with the Clearfield trait to match conventional varieties in yield has led many growers to use them in preference to the conventional standard.
Canola growers are treating canola with the Clearfield trait like a conventional option and using the post-emergent herbicide OnDuty*, if and when the weed spectrum demands it.
The new Pioneer® hybrid 45Y77 with the Clearfield trait yielded 2.79 tonnes per hectare – almost 300 kilograms per hectare higher than the best TT variety. It is the first canola hybrid with the Clearfield trait released onto the Australian market.
The highest yielding conventional variety in the SFS trial was 44C11 at 2.68 tonnes per hectare, which was almost 400 kilograms to the hectare better than AV-Sapphire.
In comparing the average yields of varieties and hybrids in each herbicide tolerant group, canola with the Clearfield trait came out in front with an average yield of 2.53 tonnes per hectare and average oil of 44.9 per cent.
The conventional types were a close second with an average yield of 2.51 tonnes per hectare and oil of 44.8 per cent. TT canola was significantly less profitable with an average of 2.13 tonnes per hectare and 43.6 per cent oil.
The superior performance of the Pioneer variety 46C76 (CL) was also demonstrated in trials conducted in NSW by GRDC and Agritech Crop Research in 2004.
In an average of six trial locations, 46C76, at 1.62 tonnes per hectare, was 200 kg per hectare higher yielding compared to TT varieties, Thunder and ATR-Grace.
46C76 also out-yielded other Clearfield alternatives including Warrior CL by 100 kg per hectare and Rocket CL by more than half a tonne per hectare.
Pioneer Hi-Bred Australia canola product manager, Kevin Morthorpe, said the trial results speak for themselves.
“There is an inherent yield and agronomic penalty associated with the triazine trait of herbicide tolerance in canola that puts the Australian canola industry at risk of not being internationally competitive or sustainable in the long term,” Mr Morthorpe said.
“The potential for increased profitability from growing canola with the Clearfield trait and hybrid canola has been clearly demonstrated in these on-farm trials, and it makes them attractive alternatives to TT canola for Australian growers,” he said.
ENDS