New Oat Yields Well
The new nulling oat. Mapua. which was released to oat millers last year for an initial increase, is now available to farmers through the millers’ brokers, but the supply may not meet the demand. Mr G. M. Wright, a cereal breeder at the Crop Research Division of the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research at Lincoln, said this week that reports so far on this season’s crops were very satisfactory. This variety is the first completely new oat bred at the Crop Research Division, the earlier release of the rustresistant Onward 63 being a relatively small improvement over Gartons Onward, Mapau was selected from a cross made in 1953 between Milford, a lodging-resistant Welsh oat, and Gartons Forward. In seven seasons of trials at Lincoln it showed good resistance to lodging and straw break, and gave an average grain yield of 85 bushels to the acre. Good results were obtained in several seasons of co-operative trials run by officers of the Farm Advisory Division of the Department of Agriculture, with an average yield increase of 14.4 bushels to the acre over Onward 56 and 7.5 bushels over Onward 63. The re-selected and purified line, which was finally released, gave a significant yield increase over the original line in 1965, and has averaged 104 bushels to the acre in two seasons’ trials at Lincoln. Milling tests of the original
line were made in 1962. Grown under the best conditions Mapua was not so good as Onward for milling, but after drought or lodging damage, to which Onward was more susceptible, Mapua was the better. As with yield, some improvement in milling quality was achieved in the final selection of lines for release.
Only experience over the next few seasons will show whether the advantage of the thinner husk of Mapua compensates for its slightly thinner grain, which leads to a lower production of rolled oats.
According to Mr E. R. Buchanan, managing director of Buchanans Flour Mills, of Ashburton, the millers are fairly happy about it at present. Last season eight or nine crops of pure seed Mapua were grown and these should produce more than 10,000 bushels of seed for resowing. No reports are yet available from Otago and Southland, but yields' in four of the five crops in Canterbury ranged from 86 to 142 bushels to the acre, averaging more than 110 bushels. The lowest yield, from a crop grown at Willowby, was much higher than the farmer had expected from its appearance. The highest yield was from the Rangitata district in a crop grown under the supervision of the Timaru Milling Company. The other half of this paddock yielded 158 bushels to the acre of Onward, and although a half paddock comparison proved very little, said Mr Wright, there was a possibility that under the
best growing conditions Onward 63 could outyield Mapua, particularly if there was an earty rust attack. This had happened in one trial some years ago, but only in plots receiving heavy applications of superphosphate. Under these conditions there was a serious risk of lodging with Onward, but little risk with Mapua. A pedigree seed area of Mapua was grown at Darfield last season for the Department of Agriculture. The crop was partly broken down by a strong north-west gale at New Year, but all the grain continued to fill well, and the crop was harvested without difficulty and yielded more than 100 bushels to the acre. Mr N. L. ShilMto, an instructor in agriculture (seed production officer) of the Farm Advisory Division, Department of Agriculture, said this week that half of the seed from this crop had been requested by merchants in Canterbury and North Otago, but there had been very little demand as yet from further south.
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Press, Volume CV, Issue 31007, 12 March 1966, Page 9
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629New Oat Yields Well Press, Volume CV, Issue 31007, 12 March 1966, Page 9
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