Written by Charlotte Cunningham
A focus on yellow rust resistance could help to deliver genetic gain in wheat, according to the the latest announcement from Angus Wheat Consultants. Charlotte Cunningham reports. In a recent webinar focusing on delivering genetic gain in wheat, Felix Austin – wheat breeder at Angus Consultants – highlighted that the UK wheat is under pressure from yellow rust because the climate provides a “perfect environment” for new races to evolve. According to Felix, while the UK is a good environment to breed resistant varieties, genetic resistance must be deployed carefully to reduce risk to farms. “Genetic variation in UK elite lines is low as consequence of the use of a limited number of parents. Yellow rust resistance can collapse quickly and this ‘boom and bust’ cycle of variety failure has been happening for the past 40 years. “Very high yielding feed wheats can become susceptible after just a few years following introduction, and given the narrowness of the UK germplasm, a resistance breakdown in a single variety can have a domino effect through other elite lines if the failed resistance was used regularly. “While it’s correct that yellow rust can usually be managed with good fungicide use, in field situations, two applications of a robust fungicide programme…
The post Focus on yellow rust resistance to deliver genetic gain appeared first on cpm magazine.
Continue reading on CPM website...
If you are enjoying what you read then why not considering subscribing:
