DSV’s new Matrix CL marks a huge step forward in breeding innovation being the first ever oulseed rape variety to layer four complex traits together without compromising yield, says the company’s Michael Farr.
Added to the AHDB Candidate List for 2021/22, the variety represents a significant advance in Clearfield winter oilseed rape and addresses many of the shortcomings of previous varieties, he believes.
“Clearfield technology, based on a combination of Imazamox herbicide and oilseed rape varieties resistant to it, has proved highly beneficial to oilseed rape growers in recent years offering effective control of pernicious brassica weeds.
“The system has provided reliable control of problem weeds such as charlock, runch and hedge mustard but has also opened up significant management opportunities for many growers in recent years including reducing erucic acid levels at harvest.
“Clearfield’s efficacy is such that even fields that have been out of production for many years due to large burdens of weeds, can be made suitable for oilseed rape once more.
“The added flexibility Clearfield provides around early weed control strategies means the technology can also be used help fine-tune time of drilling and reduce competition during establishment.”
The price for all these benefits has often been reduced yield, however, and although varieties like DSV Plurax CL have done much to address this in recent years, it’s still remained an issue for many growers, he points out.
“What has been missing from the market is a fully featured hybrid oilseed rape combining the very best agronomic package available featuring layered disease and yield protection traits with Clearfield technology but without the yield penalties usually associated with this.”
“The introduction of Matrix CL allows the grower to choose powerful post emergence Clearfield chemistry without facing the potential drop in performance shown in the previous generations of varieties.
“The variety’s production figures are impressive to say the least. Matrix CL is one of a few varieties selected as a candidate for the whole of the UK making it suitable for growing in both the North, and East and West regions.”
But it’s performed particularly well in the East/West region where it has achieved a gross output of over 108% and an oil content of 46.0% overall, Michael Farr says.
“It’s definitively the highest yielding Clearfield variety currently available to UK growers but its superiority doesn’t stop there.
“Matrix CL is the first commercially available UK variety to combine Clearfield technology with TuYV resistance, pod shatter resistance and RLM7+ resistance to phoma stem canker. It’s got the best agronomic package seen in any Clearfield variety to date.
“With improved vigour over even DSV Plurax CL and mirroring the vigour profiles of the top performing hybrids in both autumn and early spring, Matrix CL has performed particularly well in our high pressure flea beetle trials.”
“With high winter hardiness, Matrix CL also achieves top standing scores including a 9 for Lodging and an 8 for Stem Stiffness with a medium flowering score of 5 and an early maturity score of 6.”
The inclusion of the variety on the AHDB Candidate List for 2021/22 concludes a trio of firsts for DSV recently with DSV Duplo and DSV Dart also making it on to the new candidate list.
DSV Duplo has an oil content of 46.8% and a yield of 109% for the East and West region plus RLM7+ multi-gene phoma stem canker resistance, turnip yellow virus (TUYV) resistance and pod shatter resistance,
DSV Dart has an oil content of 45.7% plus a gross output of 113% in the East and West region and is the first of the company’s varieties to feature the new HarvestMax technology to reduce harvest losses.