Developing varieties able to consistently deliver high performance in a climate change future requires a focus on the physical properties needed to build resilience into plants but also makes improved disease resistance a priority too, say DSV.
It's no surprise that DSV chose Wardington in Oxfordshire to base its UK breeding operation when you consider the company's objectives for the development of its future varieties, says the company's UK wheat breeder Dr. Matt Kerton.
"Our overriding priority is to develop varieties that help growers achieve consistent performance across the increasingly challenging growing conditions likely to be experienced in the future.
"When it comes to wheat breeding, Wardington lies in a strong septoria pressure area but one which also has a lot of yellow rust, so we are selecting from genetic material with very strong disease resistance right from the start."
DSV Champion, the current Guinness world record holder for wheat yield, and Wardington's latest rising star DSV Diamond are both good examples of the approach in action, he says.
"DSV Champion is the joint highest yielding wheat on the latest RL with 106% of controls and highest Septoria resistance score in Group 4 at 8, while DSV Diamond has a 95% untreated yield and a superb set of agronomic and production features.
"It's a stiff, clean, early ripening Skyfall x KWS Siskin cross with an 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 and Pch1 to boost eyespot protection.
"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)."
Improving drought tolerance
Another key part of DSV's breeding programme is focused on recapturing lost genes to see if they have relevance to the future, he adds.
"Over the years, we have focused on varieties that thrive in a certain climate and growing conditions, but it could well be that in following this route, we have lost many genes that could be useful in helping us meet the growing challenges of the future.
"With the impact of climate change and the requirement to reduce carbon footprints and inputs in agricultural production, a large part of our breeding programme is, therefore, focused on successfully recapturing these genes.
"We are increasingly turning back the genetic clock to mine characteristics of the past to see if they have relevance to the future.
"For example, it could be that we have lost some strong drought tolerance genes that could be very useful when combined with modern high yielding genetics, so we are looking at wild relatives and landrace varieties of wheat to see if we can identify some of these genes."
One of the most exciting technologies DSV is involved with is the production of synthetic wheats, Matt Kerton explains.
"Some 10,000 years ago tetraploid wheat crossed naturally with wild grass and that produced the third genome which gave rise to the hexaploid varieties which became the basis of all modern wheats.
"The thinking behind the use of these synthetic wheats is to recreate this original hybridisation event and then use modern molecular breeding methods to combine modern traits with lost genes to produce varieties more suited to the future challenges we face."
According to DSV's Sarah Hawthorne, the approach in oilseed rape is similar with the company announcing both 'PhomaBlocker' and 'Powerful Pods' technology.
"Our PhomaBlocker technology has taken on added significance following recent Rothamsted Research findings the disease is becoming resistant to azole fungicides across Europe.
"Utilising three different types of phoma resistance in different combinations, the first UK PhomaBlocker varieties are now in AHDB candidate trials with potential RL listing at the end of 2024."
DSV's latest RL addition DSV Dolphin is also the first of a new generation of hybrid OSR varieties combining specific traits to protect against adverse conditions later in the season, she adds.
"How a variety performs during growth and harvest depends on many different features rather than just a single gene with DSV breeders now identifying several pod characteristics which form the basis of our 'Powerful Pods' technology.
"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 resistant varieties."