A new hard Group 4 wheat bred at the UK’s most westerly breeding station promises real world resilience and resistance to key diseases combined with exceptional yields, report DSV UK.
DSV Oxford has just been added to the 2022/23 AHDB candidate list following in the footsteps of DSV Champion, the current top performing wheat on the 2022/23 RL, and DSV Theodore, the UK’s cleanest wheat, says the company’s Sarah Hawthorne.
“Our breeding station at Wardington in Oxfordshire has higher disease pressure than other UK locations, so new wheat varieties emerging from it have greater exposure to more testing growing conditions and associated diseases.
“This gives the Wardington-bred varieties a level of versatility and consistency of production that helps them perform to their full potential in both higher input systems and more regenerative ones.
“This is abundantly clear in both DSV Champion and DSV Theodore with DSV Oxford being in very much the same mould.
“The overall UK average yield for the variety sits at 103.7% with particularly strong performance seen in the West at 105%, and an untreated yield of 86% underlines its built-in resilience too.
“It’s a strong, well-structured wheat standing at 84.6cm without PGRs so it’s going to be a tough contender in the more variable growing conditions now prevalent in the UK plus it will be an easy harvester, too.”
Good grain quality and strong agronomic performance are particular features too, she says.
“It’s got a relatively high protein content of 11%, which is respectable for a Group 4, and this is complemented by a hagberg falling number of 201 and a specific weight of 74.7.
“DSV Oxford also offers growers orange wheat blossom midge resistance and a dependable package of genetics delivering robust disease resistance with 6s for septoria and mildew plus, importantly, an 8 for yellow rust.
“It’s a great all-rounder and a strong addition to our portfolio of ‘breakthrough’ varieties, offering growers a reliable and rewarding wheat perfectly suited to modern conditions and markets.”