AN $8.2 million Grains Research and Development Corporation investment will look at bolstering vigour in newly established canola crops.
Subscribe now for unlimited access to all our agricultural news
across the nation
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Canola has been a huge success story in the past five years, culminating in a record nation crop last harvest of 8.3 million tonnes according to Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences data released this week.
However, issues with establishment following germination remain a chink in the armour of the oilseed crop.
A four-year project, a co-investment between the Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC) and Australia's national science agency CSIRO, will look at the problem of uneven establishment.
GRDC western panel chair Darrin Lee said poor establishment of canola was a widespread problem with, on average, only 50-60 per cent of seeds capable of germination successfully establishing.
Given that farmers are increasingly forking out big dollars for high yielding hybrid seed the issue of seed not establishing is costing the industry dearly in terms of additional seed costs.
Along with that Mr Lee said there were other negative factors associated with poor establishment.
"Unreliable canola establishment can lead to difficulties with weed management, reduced yield potential and, with canola, sometimes resowing is required," he said.
Mr Lee said the increasing trend towards earlier sowing had only exacerbated the risks.
"These establishment risks have only increased with the trend to earlier sowing."
The project will primarily look at potential genetic options that can help canola breeders develop new varieties with better establishment traits, with a particular focus on developing longer and stronger hypocotyls, the stem of the germinating seedling.
Generally, the major problem in poor establishment has been marginal moisture, again an increasing problem since dry sowing became popular, incorrect sowing depth and soil crusting over hard.
Lead researcher and CSIRO farming systems scientist Andrew Fletcher said as well as looking at varietal gains, the project will investigate best practice agronomy.
"The project will develop a decision framework growers can use to assess the conditions for sowing canola, and identify risks for poor establishment," Dr Fletcher said.
"This means growers can go into the paddock at seeding time and look at their moisture content, soil type and the time of year and understand the risks."
Dr Fletcher said that in recent years, growers were sowing canola earlier to take advantage of rainfall events rather than waiting for traditional sowing times.
"Ten years ago, I don't think anyone would have thought about sowing canola in March."
Now, when there's a rainfall event, growers start looking at late March or early April to sow their programs."