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Research aims to help reduce wheat sprouting risk


Australia
December 18, 2014

By GRDC western regional panel member Gemma Walker
 
Western Australian research is fine-tuning sprouting tolerance ratings for wheat, to help growers identify varieties less likely to sprout during wet conditions at the end of the cropping season.

Pre-harvest sprouting has been a significant issue for a number of WA wheat growers this year, causing downgrading of grain and financial losses.

Research into pre-harvest sprouting has been conducted over recent years by the Department of Agriculture and Food (DAFWA), with funding from the Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC), as part of the project ‘Wheat agronomy – building system profitability in the western region’.

It has helped produce a sprouting tolerance rating system, which was included in the 2014 Wheat Variety Guide for WA (www.grdc.com.au/WAWheatVarietyGuide).

Results from this year’s trials will further refine these ratings, for publication in the 2015 edition.

According to DAFWA project leader Ben Curtis, the research has included field trials and the use of rain simulators to replicate what happens to a wheat crop which is exposed to rain.

Mature wheat samples from the field trials are placed in a simulator and subjected to different levels of ‘rainfall’, for different periods.

To measure the extent of damage to the grain, the internationally recognised ‘falling number test’ is then used to assess if starch has started to break down, which indicates that the grain has started to sprout.

No variety is totally resistant to sprouting and any wheat variety will sprout if it is exposed to moisture for an extended period of time.

Grain storage information to help growers deal with high-moisture grain at harvest time is available in the GRDC fact sheet Dealing with High Moisture Grain available at www.grdc.com.au/GRDC-FS-HighMoistureGrain.

 



More news from: GRDC (Grains Research & Development Corporation)


Website: http://www.grdc.com.au

Published: December 18, 2014

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