March 31, 2003
In a bid to resurrect the albus
lupin industry, which collapsed in 1996 after the outbreak of
anthracnose, the development of an anthracnose resistant albus
lupin has been initiated.
Western Australian
Department of Agriculture grain legume breeding manager,
Mark Sweetingham said lines with anthracnose tolerance and
agronomic promise had been identified and promoted to further
yield tests.
"We have to find high yielding,
anthracnose resistant albus lines that can replace Kiev Mutant
which is very susceptible to the disease. If we can do that we
will be well on the way to getting the albus lupin industry back
on track", he said.
Dr Sweetingham said 19 lines had
been selected for their maturity, agronomic type, yielding
ability and disease severity and were currently being multiplied
at Manjimup.
The lines will be further tested
for yield and disease reaction in 2003 and the best lines will
be selected with a view to release in 2004.
Meanwhile, an anthracnose
resistant replacement for Belara will be released in 2004. Dr
Sweetingham said lupin breeding had been concentrating on
developing high yielding lines with other important attributes
such as phomopsis resistance, anthracnose resistance and
improved tolerance of herbicides.
"WALAB2141 is an excellent
advanced breeding line which will be a competitive replacement
for nearly all varieties currently being grown. It has better
tolerance to metribuzin than Tanjil, it has good resistance to
aphids, a high degree of phomopsis resistance and slighter
higher protein than Belara", he said.
Dr Sweetingham said the new
variety, to be released next year has all the attributes that
are necessary in short seasons or for crop topping.
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