Abstract
Club wheat was planted on over 40,000 acres in Oregon and 215,000 acres in Washington for the 2004 harvest year. Club wheat is sold to domestic and foreign millers as pure club or as mixture with soft white marketed as 'Western White' and is used in cakes, sponge cakes, pastries, and crackers. The objective of this research was to evaluate winter club breeding lines at diverse Oregon locations with the goal of developing high quality, competitive winter club cultivars suited to northeastern Oregon growing conditions. Breeding lines were evaluated at four Oregon sites for yield, test weight, plant height, heading date, and quality and crosses were done in the greenhouse. Coleoptile length and leaf breadth measurements were taken.
Key words
Triticum aestivum, Triticum compactum , wheat breeding
Introduction
The USDA-Agricultural Research Service (ARS) Wheat Breeding Program is located in Pullman, Washington at the USDA-ARS Wheat Genetics, Quality, Physiology, and Disease Research Unit. Kimberly Garland Campbell is head of the Wheat Breeding/Genetics Program and the Western Regional Cooperative Nurseries. The Oregon sites are managed by Nathan Blake.
Materials and Methods
Four northeastern Oregon sites (Hermiston, Lexington, Moro, and Pendleton) were used for 17 breeding and 3 Western Regional nurseries. All sites were non-irrigated except Hermiston. The Pendleton and Moro nurseries were located at the Columbia Basin Agricultural Research Center (CBARC) and the Sherman Experiment Station. The other two sites were on Kent Madison's farm near Hermiston and Starvation Farms (Chris Rauch cooperator) north of Lexington.
Pendleton
Winter wheat nurseries were seeded October 4, 2003 at CBARC. Yield trials evaluated at CBARC included the USDA-ARS Elite, Tall Late, Oregon Early, and Preliminary 1 and 2, and comprised a total of 28 entries replicated 2 times. The yield trial, Shadow, included 14 entries replicated 3 times. All breeding nurseries were planted using a partially balanced lattice design. Two cooperative regional nurseries, the Western Regional Soft Winter Wheat Nursery and the Western Regional Hard Winter Wheat Nursery, comprised of 30 and 23 entries respectively, used a randomized complete block design with three replications. All seed was treated prior to planting with Raxil-Thiram ® (Gustafson) and Gaucho ® (Bayer) at recommended label rates. Seeding rate was approximately 20 seeds/ft 2 . Ninety pounds of nitrogen (N) as anhydrous ammonia was incorporated into conventional fallow in July to increase the N amount to 210 lb/acre. This is based on 2.7 lb N/acre/bu multiplied by 80 bu/acre estimated yield. No fertilizer was applied in the spring. Plots were seeded approximately 1 inch deep using a Hege drill with five-row double-disk openers. Plot size was approximately 82.5 ft 2 . Moisture was good at planting and emergence was good. Hoelon ® (Bayer) was applied at 2.67 pints/acre to control downey brome. Spring broadleaf weed control was obtained by spraying plots with Bronate ® (Bayer) (20 oz/acre) on April 6 with wheat in mid-tillering stage.
Plots were evaluated for spring stand (percentage), heading date, height, spike morphology, harvested plot length, grain yield, and test weight. Heading date was noted as days from January 1 until 50 percent of the plot had headed. Height was measured on an inside row of the plot from the soil surface to the bottom of the spikes. Disease notes were not taken at Pendleton because foliar diseases were few. Plots were harvested on July 27, 2004 using a Hege small plot combine. Harvested plot length was determined just prior to harvest. Grain samples were measured for grain yield, cleaned using a small-sample Hege cleaner, and test weighed.
Hermiston
The USDA-ARS Elite and Shadow replicated yield trials were planted at Hermiston on October 8, 2003 using the same experimental design as at Pendleton. Seeding was done using a Hege drill with 7 Accu-Plant ® double-disk openers at approximately 20 seeds/ft 2 . Planting depth was approximately 1 inch deep. Moisture and emergence were good. Fertility and weed control were managed by the cooperator. Experimental design and data collected were as described above. Plots were harvested on July 19, 2004.
Lexington
The USDA-ARS Elite and Shadow replicated yield trials were planted at
Lexington on September 25, 2003 using the same experimental design as at Pendleton. Plots were direct seeded using a Hege drill with Accu-Plant ® double-disk openers at approximately 20 seeds/ft 2 . Planting depth was approximately 1.5 inch deep. Moisture was inadequate and emergence was uneven. There was extensive seed loss before emergence due to mice. Fertility and weed control were managed by the cooperator. Experimental design and data collected were as described for Pendleton. Plots were harvested on July 16, 2004 .
Moro
Nurseries evaluated at the Sherman Experiment Station included the USDA-ARS Elite, Tall Late, Oregon Early, Shadow, Preliminary 1 and 2, and the two cooperative regional nurseries, Western Regional Soft Winter Wheat Nursery and Western Regional Hard Winter Wheat Nursery. Nitrogen fertility included 109 lb/acre residual N, with an application of 35 lb N/acre of anhydrous ammonia in late July 2003, which increased the total N to 144 lb/acre. Plots were seeded on October 10, 2003 at approximately 20 seeds/ft 2 using a Hege drill with 4 double-disk openers. Planting depth was approximately 1.25 inch deep. Moisture was adequate and emergence was good. Bronate ® (Bayer) (16oz/acre) and Harmony Extra ® (DuPont) (0.5oz/acre) were used for weed control in the spring. Experimental design and data collected were as described for CBARC. Plots were harvested on July 22, 2004 . A 400-g sample was saved from selected plots and sent for evaluation at the Western Wheat Quality Laboratory in Pullman, Washington. Quality data are not available at this time. Quality data for the 2003 crop are included in Table 2.
Pullman
The Pullman nurseries were planted September 24, 2003, using a Wintersteiger ® 7 row drill at 7 in spacing. Plot size was trimmed to 44 ft ft 2 . The field was summer fallow, fertilized with 80 lbs of N as ammonium sulfate. Weeds were controlled by a May application of Bromoxynil and Harmony Extra ® (DuPont) at labeled rates. Plots were harvested on August 10, 2004 using a Winterstieger ® plot combine.
Milling and baking quality
The quality tests were conducted at the USDA Western Wheat quality laboratory using standard AACC approved procedures. A 600 g sample was taken from the first replication of each field nursery. The quality tests reported here are from the 2003 crop year.
Coleoptile testing
Coleoptile length of breeding lines from the USDA-ARS program were evaluated as described in Hakizimana et al. (2000). Ten seeds were placed 1 cm apart with the germ down and 1.2 in from the bottom of a wet germination towel. The towels were folded over, rolled loosely, and placed upright in plastic trays. The samples were placed in a dark incubator at 39°F for 4 days. After 4 days the samples were removed and placed in another dark incubator at 59°F for 16 days. Coleoptile lengths were measured to the nearest mm to identify genotypes with long coleoptiles that will emerge readily from deep planting
Leaf breadth of breeding lines from the USDA-ARS program are being evaluated at Pendleton as described in Richards et al. (2002). Twelve seeds of 240 lines with 2 replications were germinated and put in a growth chamber at 70°F for 10 days. The first two leaves were measured to the hundredth mm at the widest point using a digital micrometer. The goal is to select for genotypes that compete better with weeds and use water and sunlight more efficiently through more rapid canopy closure.
Results
Yield data at Moro and Lexington were extremely variable due to unequal fertilizer application at Moro and rodents and herbicide injury at Lexington. Above average rainfall in April and May resulted in higher than average yields at Pendleton. Only one line, A00248, had comparable yields with the check, Tubbs, at Pendleton, but several other experimental lines had yields similar to Eltan, Residence, Finch, and the other checks (Table 1) .
Test weights of the experimental lines across locations were the same or higher than the checks. In the past, club varieties generally had lower test weights than commons, but through the selection of high test weight lines in early generations, higher test weights are now common for club wheats in the program.
Heading dates of the experimental lines in the Elite Nursery generally averaged several days later than the variety Tubbs. The line A99123 headed the same day as Tubbs and three other lines were one day later. These four lines would be well adapted to northeastern Oregon's need for early maturing varieties.
Two lines, ARSC96059-1 and A00154, had better than average milling and baking quality characteristics. Both lines had below 9.5 flour protein, low Udy hardness, below average ash content, high mill score and good cookie diameter. Other lines did very
will with some characteristics, but were deficient in others.
The lines with the longest coleoptile length (over 4.5 in) were the checks Edwin and Moro (wheat entries 13 and 14 in Fig. 1). Several breeding lines had coleoptile lengths over 3 in. For comparison, the checks Hiller, Tubbs, and Finch had lengths of 3.0,
3.0, and 3.5 in, respectively, and the nursery average was 3 in. The breeding lines seem to have few genetic differences affecting coleoptile length, and the varieties Edwin and Moro could be used in crosses to increase coleoptile length.
Leaf breadth testing (Fig. 2) results were similar to the coleoptile length tests. The range of leaf breadth measurements was small and the breeding nursery results shown in Figure 2 indicate a difference of .04 in (1 mm) between the widest and narrowest leaves of the 20 entries. These results also show the need for increased genetic variability in the club breeding lines.
References
Hakizimana, F., S. D. Haley, and E. B. Turnipseed. 2000. Repeatability and genotype x environment interaction of coleoptile length measurements in winter wheat. Crop Sci. 40:1233-1237.
Richards, R. A., G. J. Rebetzke, A. G. Condon, and A. F. van Herwaarden. 2002. Breeding opportunities for increasing the efficiency of water use and crop yield in temperate cereals. Crop Sci. 42:111-121.
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