Following on from the launch of its new 'PhomaBlocker' technology last year, seed breeder DSV is now focusing on OSR genetics that build on traditional pod shatter characteristics to increase harvest security, says the company's Sarah Hawthorne.
The company's UK breeding programme, based at Wardington in Oxfordshire and responsible for DSV Champion, currently the Guinness world record holder for wheat yield, is now also making progress with milling specification varieties, she adds.
"Our PhomaBlocker technology has taken on added significance following recent Rothamsted Research findings the disease is becoming resistant to azole fungicides across Europe.
"With three different types of phoma resistance in different combinations, the first UK varieties containing PhomaBlocker, (DSV Cognac) and (DSV Churchill), are now in AHDB candidate trials with Potential RL listing at the end of 2024."
Enhanced harvest protection is now under the DSV spotlight with its latest RL addition DSV Dolphin the first of a new generation of hybrid OSR varieties combining specific traits to protect against adverse conditions later in the season, she explains.
"Pod shatter genetics, contained in several DSV oilseed rape varieties and others on the RL, have done much to highlight the issue of harvest seed shed.
"But it is widely understood how a variety performs during its growth and at harvest is the function of many different characteristics rather than just a single gene or property of a variety.
"DSV breeders have identified four key pod characteristics which when combined form the basis of our 'Powerful Pods' technology.
"These are greater flexibility of the pod structure, improved function of the pod valve margins, greater space around individual seeds and longer actual length of pods.
"In DSV's own random impact tests (RIT) where pods from different varieties are bombarded with steel ball bearings in controlled conditions, DSV Dolphin achieved one of the best scores for seed retention.
"Results from an AHDB analysis have also shown little difference in the performance of DSV Dolphin with regard to seed loss compared to many of the most popular pod shatter varieties."
On the wheat front, Wardington-bred (DSV Diamond) winter wheat could set new standards for untreated yield in a milling type wheat with a strong disease resistance package and excellent grain quality, she adds.
"Wardington’s relatively westerly position compared to other UK breeding stations means the breeding station is in a strong septoria pressure area but one which also has a lot of yellow rust, too.
"(DSV Diamond) has a 95% untreated yield and a set of agronomic and production features that could put it at the top of Group 2.
"It's a stiff, clean, early ripening Skyfall x KWS Siskin cross with excellent resistance package of 8 for mildew, 9 for yellow rust, a 7 for brown rust and 7.2 for septoria. it's got orange wheat blossom midge (OWBM) resistance, too.
"Performance rivals the established Group 2 top players with a yield 99.7% of controls, an outstanding hagberg falling number (HFN) of 290, a specific weight of 79 and a protein of 11.4%."