Two new winter wheats to be unveiled
Two new winter wheat varieties will be unveiled on the Syngenta stand (number 619) at this year’s Cereals Event – a potential new bread-making candidate variety, SY Medea, and a new high-yielding hard Group 4 feed wheat, Gleam.
Added to the AHDB Recommended List for 2018/19, and due for launch for this autumn, Gleam, like its recently-introduced stablemate feed varieties, Graham and Shabras, combines high yield with robust resistance to Septoria tritici, says Syngenta seeds campaign manager, Tracy Creasy.
“As Septoria tritici has become more difficult to control, growers have increasingly turned to growing more resistant varieties,” says Mrs Creasy.
“As well as high yields, Gleam, Shabras and Graham provide a minimum resistance rating of 6.2 against Septoria tritici on the AHDB Recommended List, with Graham up at 6.9.
“They also offer good resistance to rusts and early maturity. Early maturity has become important to help spread harvest workloads as farm sizes have increased, but also to provide a longer window after harvest for preparing stale seedbeds for managing black-grass.
“Graham was launched in 2016 and remains highly popular, underlining the importance that growers attach to agronomic benefits such as good Septoria tritici resistance,” she adds.
Two new hybrid barleys and two new malting barleys
With the growth in popularity of high-yielding hybrid winter feed barley, Syngenta will feature plots of five leading Hyvido varieties on its stand – including unveiling its two newest hybrids added to the AHDB Recommended List for 2018/19, Belmont and Libra.
In addition, continuing its heritage of breeding quality malting barleys, the company will also be exhibiting its line-up of winter and spring malting varieties – including unveiling two new high-yielding winter malting varieties added to the AHDB Recommended List for 2018/19, Electrum and Coref.
“Hyvido has seen a surge of interest over recent years,” says Syngenta seeds campaign manager, Mark Bullen. “That’s partly for its high yield, but also for the benefits of its vigorous growth for competing against black-grass.
“With a UK treated yield of 111%, new hybrid Belmont takes yields on the AHDB Recommended List up another notch. Meanwhile, Libra is the best hybrid barley for specific weight that we’ve ever bred.”
Syngenta malting barley experts will also be on hand to provide updates on latest variety choices, including updates on up-and-coming spring malting variety, Laureate, which has full approval for both malt distilling and brewing uses on the Malting Barley Committee (MBC) approved list. Laureate also received CBMO approval in France in February 2018, which will increase potential export opportunities for the variety across Europe, says Mr Bullen.
