DSV will be showcasing its latest PhomaBlocker and Powerful Pods oilseed rape varieties at Cereals 2024 alongside its new super clean wheat DSV Diamond and its portfolio of maize, forage and alternative crop options.
"Our PhomaBlocker technology has taken on added significance following recent Rothamsted Research findings the disease is becoming resistant to azole fungicides across Europe," explains DSV UK's Sarah Hawthorne.
"With three different types of phoma resistance in different combinations, the first UK varieties containing PhomaBlocker are now in AHDB candidate trials with potential RL listing at the end of 2024."
Enhanced harvest protection is also 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 adds.
"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 three 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 and greater space around individual seeds.
"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 explains.
"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 disease resistance package of 8 for mildew, 9 for yellow rust, 7 for brown rust and 7.2 for septoria. It also has orange wheat blossom midge (OWBM) resistance.
"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% (non-milling management)."
DSV will also be holding a competition at Cereals 2024 to find the UK's highest yielding crop of the company's flagship wheat and Guinness world record holding wheat variety DSV Champion.
DSV can be seen at stand 604.