TOPCROP tests new wheat

摘要

THE TOPCROP program in Tasmania has trialled the new CSIRO winter wheats, Lawson and Paterson. Dual-purpose wheats have always had an important place in Tas-manian agriculture, but there have been few new varieties since Isis in the 1960s. Given thatthis variety is susceptible to stripe rust, there is a great deal of interest in the CSIRO wheats. Last season, 40 tonnes of Lawson seed were brought in from Victoria, enabling about 400 hectares to be sown by 25 growers. In addition to inspecting crops,TOPCROP has been involved with running replicated yield trials and on-farm test strips. Management in the yield trials has ranged from high input (two top-dressings of nitrogen, spray for Sep-toria and the option of irrigating if necessary) on a krasnozem soil to low input (one top-dressing of nitrogen) on a duplex soil in the Midlands area.