Crop Harvest Report 2010

Yarrum peas make it a three-peat in 2009

By Larn McMurray, Research Scientist, SARDI, Clare & Tony Leonforte PBA Field Peas, DPI Victoria

or the third year in a row the late flowering dun type pea Yarrum was the highest yielding variety across SA pea evaluation trials in 2009. Yarrum averaged 10% higher grain yields than Kaspa, 14% higher than the early flowering variety Bundi and 15% higher than Parafield across all sites. Mean site grain yields of all fourteen NVT and Pulse Breeding Australia (PBA) trials ranged from 0.6 t/ha at the hail damaged Rudall site to 3.8 t/ha at Bool Lagoon in the lower South East. The average site yield across all trials was 2.7 t/ha, significantly higher than yields achieved in each of the three previous years. Many commercial field pea crops in SA last year incurred high black spot infections due to early sowing and the late release of large numbers of airborne spores. SA Grains Industry Funded agronomic research trials in SA showed that the application of P-Pickel T seed treatment and two foliar sprays of mancozeb was economic in 2009 but some disease infection and yield loss still occurred. Early sowing (early May), due to a

stress during flowering and pod combination of black spot and fill from the heat wave event in frost, often resulted in lower or November. similar grain yields than delayed Lower levels of this stress sowing (late May) in 2009. and at a relatively later crop This was in contrast to results maturity stage were observed at found in 2007 and 2008 where Balaklava, Lameroo, Minnipa generally all earlier sown crops and Yeelanna. returned higher yields. Frost Larn McMurray Yarrum is resistant to powdery events during flowering and pod mildew and has improved resistance to fill also reduced field pea yields in some virus. districts and a severe hail storm in late Yarrum had high relative yield levels at September caused widespread damage, Laura, Riverton and in the South East in yield loss and seed quality down grading 2009. to a number of crops on the Eyre and All these sites were characterised by low Yorke Peninsulas. Bacterial blight again levels of black spot, good levels of plant caused some damage in frost affected growth but a rapid finish to the season crops east of the Clare Valley. due to heat stress. Pea variety performance last year, like in In previous years despite its late 2008, was variable across districts. flowering characteristic, Yarrum has This was due to different levels of been found to handle the short and dry disease (black spot) and heat and frost flowering and pod fill seasonal conditions stress during grain filling occurring across better than other varieties. sites. It has a late but very rapid flowering Blackspot levels were high at Turretfield, and pod filling window which often sees Balaklava, Snowtown and Minnipa it reach maturity before earlier flowering resulting in reduced grain yields. varieties e.g. Parafield. Yarrums poorest Frost events were recorded at Laura, relative performances compared with Lameroo and Snowtown, however only Kaspa in 2009 were generally at sites the Snowtown sight exhibited obvious where high levels of black spot occurred. levels of yield loss. Long term grain yields show that The later maturing sites of Riverton, Yarrum has its highest relative yield Turretfield, Keith, Mundulla and Bool advantage over Kaspa in the South East Lagoon all incurred high levels of heat

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2010

Peas

SA Field Pea Variety Trial Yield Performance: 2009 (as % of site mean) and Long term (2000-2009) Average Across Sites (as % of site mean).
YORKE PENINSULA SOUTH EAST MALLEE LOWER EYRE PENINSULA UPPER EYRE PEN. 2009 2000-2009 2009 2000-2009 2009 2000-2009 2009 2000-2009 2009 2000-2009 Min- Willa- % Site Trial Bool Keith Mun- % Site Trial Lame- % Site Trial Rudall Yee- % Site Trial Minn- % Site Trial laton mulka mean # Lagoon dulla mean # roo mean # ** lanna mean # ipa mean # 90 90 106 17 126 83 98 103 17 76 102 4 106 79 104 11 96 107 6 102 101 112 23 92 83 78 107 24 78 103 6 81 93 106 17 114 108 8 80 96 102 23 82 68 81 103 24 111 105 6 89 96 104 17 98 104 8 106 19 101 107 21 138 114 5 108 13 102 109 8 109 8 109 9 107 2* 110 7 101 98 113 17 107 128 99 117 15 111 114 4 73 89 110 11 118 110 6 94 93 108 10 80 80 108 108 9 75 105 2* 119 84 109 6 96 109 3 100 99 111 12 82 89 108 110 9 99 109 2* 125 92 111 7 96 110 3 97 95 111 11 98 89 102 113 9 118 116 2* 123 100 113 6 109 112 4 3.53 3.03 2.19 3.84 2.29 2.30 2.85 1.51 1.39 0.64 3.65 2.07 2.29 1.48

Variety/line Balak- Laura lava Bundi 81 82 Kaspa 106 85 Parafield 104 87 Sturt 112 SW Celine Yarrum 101 113 OZP0601 89 89 OZP0602 104 98 OZP0703 107 121 Site mean 2.71 3.27 yield (t/ha) % LSD 7.5 8 11.6 10 8 9.6 6.6 15.6 14 7.4 19.2 12.5 10.4 15.5 (0.05) Date sown 26/5 29/5 29/5 13/5 5/6 19/5 18/5 24/6 11/6 22/6 15/5 25/5 21/5 4/5 Soil type SL/ SCL/ ZC/ SCL/ SCL/ L/ FS/ C SL L/stone SL/ SL LiSCL L LiMC LiMC MHC LC LiC SCL FSL L A-O rainfall 340 436 470 273 405 328 296 508 359 341 251 324 392 333 (mm) pH (H2O) 8.1 5.9 6.7 8.5 8.2 8.4 8.7 7.7 7.4 8.3 8.1 8.4 6.9 8.5 Site stress bs,ht fr ht bs,fr dl, ht,bs ht ht, dl ht, dl ht,fr hd ht, hd bs, ht, factors pm Soil type: S = sand, C = clay, L = loam, H = heavy, M = medium, Li = light, F = fine, / = over ** = Variable and low yield due to severe hail damage during podding, use caution. Site Stress Factors: dl = post flowering moisture stress, de = pre flowering moisture stress, fr = reproductive frost damage, ht = high temperatures during flowering/pod fill, pm = powdery mildew, bs = black spot, hd = hail damage during early pod fill Data source: SARDI/GRDC, PBA & NVT (long term data based on weighted analysis of sites) *Varieties have only had limited evaluation years at these sites, treat with caution

MID NORTH 2009 2000-2009 River- Snow- Turret- % Site Trial ton town field mean # 85 92 99 106 29 79 129 100 108 39 85 111 87 102 39 105 108 108 35 108 8 116 77 101 113 29 85 106 103 109 17 97 110 114 111 19 107 111 117 114 20 2.67 1.27 2.54 2.12

Crop Harvest Report 2010

More information: Larn McMurray (08) 8842 6265, larn.mcmurray@sa.gov.au

and Mallee districts (10-11%). It provides an alternative to Kaspa in SA particularly in longer growing season districts where powdery mildew and viruses are regular problems provided black spot risks are reduced. After three years of similar or lower yields, the cross-sites grain yield average of Kaspa was 5% above Parafield last year, reflecting the more favourable growing conditions of 2009. Kaspas best relative yields were generally at the higher yielding sites and sites where black spot reduced grain yields. Despite a very low level of downy mildew being identified in SA in 2009 growers are reminded that Kaspas resistance to this disease has now broken down and an appropriate seed dressing is now recommended in disease prone areas. OZP0602 and OZP0601 from PBA are Kaspa types with earlier and longer flowering periods and greater yield in short season environments and seasons than Kaspa. OZP0602 has been higher yielding than Kaspa at 29 of the 42 evaluation sites in SA over the last three years. It averaged 3% higher than Kaspa across all sites last year and was the highest yielding early flowering cultivar. OZP0601 averaged 4% lower grain yields than Kaspa across all sites last year and like another early flowering variety, Bundi it was generally not favoured by the seasonal conditions. Agronomic trials in SA have shown that due to their earlier and longer flowering windows OZP0602 and OZP0601 may not need to be sown as early as Kaspa to maximise yields, providing a safer option where sowing needs to be delayed. OZP0703 is a high yielding early flowering dun variety with greater tolerance to bacterial blight (pv syringae) than current pea varieties. It averaged 10% higher than Kaspa in 2009 and 17% higher in 2008 across all sites. These impressive results across two climatically different years indicate that this line may have a wider adaptation than just in bacterial blight prone areas. All three lines are currently under multiplication with AWB Seeds with a view to releasing them in 2010.

2010

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