VARIETIES PLANT BREEDING
Diversifying for a sustai n With a tradition of break crop breeding, LSPB has recently seen its first cereal variety join the AHDB Recommended List. Teresa Rush talked to managing director Chris Guest about further developments for the UK market.
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o those growing oilseed rape on clubroot-infected land, the varieties Croozer and Crome will be familiar. And pea and bean growers may well recognise Bluetime, Lynx, Vertigo and Fanfare. Cambridge-based LSPB has a strong presence in the break crop market and now has its first cereal variety on the Recommended List in the form of Escape spring wheat. It is hoped that Escape will be the first in a line of spring and then eventually winter wheats, to reach the market in the UK, says LSPB managing director Chris Guest. The variety is a straight feed type, joining the 2021/22 RL with a list-topping yield rating of 107, just ahead of Group 2 KWS Cochise at 106 and fellow Group 4s KWS Talisker and Senova’s Hexham at 105. “Historically, spring wheats have been quality types but what we’ve got in Escape is a sound, robust
variety, which gives growers an alternative,” says Mr Guest. Given the weather challenges growers have faced in recent seasons, a spring wheat can offer some security when faced with the prospect of later wheat sowing dates, he suggests. “Particularly if growers are late sowers of winter wheat, we have a challenging autumn season and the latest safe sowing date for winter wheat slips by – you have then got the option of spring wheat.” Yellow rust And while yellow rust may not always pose a significant threat to spring wheat because of its shorter growing season, Escape’s 9 rating for resistance to the disease is worth noting, says Mr Guest. “Escape’s yellow rust resistance is certainly going to be something people will look at. Yellow rust is not always a challenge in spring wheat, but it is still a significant risk.” The company had further RL
LSPB managing director Chris Guest (left) and oilseed rape breeder Craig Padley in LSPB OSR variety trials at Impington, Cambridgeshire.
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success last winter, with the addition of hybrid oilseed rape variety Respect to the winter oilseed rape list for 2021/22, with a recommendation for the East/West region. With a yield rating of 106, Respect brings a new genetic trait to UK growers in the form of major gene RlmS resistance to phoma stem canker. “We have released RlmS in two hybrids this season,” says Mr Guest. “This gene was identified by breeders at NPZ, LSPB’s shareholder, who have been researching phoma resistances for decades. It was integrated into our breeding programmes and developed into a viable trait for commercial varieties. “It is important to note that the RlmS gene is distinct from those widely found in current oilseed rape varieties, hence by developing our hybrids with different genetics we give extended and resilient phoma resistance in the field. “There are problems in France with virulence to the Rlm7
resistance and what we don’t want to see is that problem come to the UK. We need to continue to look for new resistances to protect what we’ve already got, so, if we can spread the resistance portfolio, then we are not overly reliant on one single source – having a spread of genetic resistance is a good thing.” The second LSPB OSR variety to feature the RlmS gene is Flemming, which is a candidate variety for the 2022/23 RL and adds turnip yellows virus (TuYV) resistance to the RlmS phoma resistance. Flemming promises the same yield performance and autumn vigour as Respect, with a more prostrate growth habit, says LSPB. Oilseed rape is not without its challenges, but an increased crop area is expected this autumn, says Mr Guest. “The oilseed rape area is set to rebound to sustainable levels this autumn as, by most measures, it is the best break crop on a gross margin basis. I think the percentage of the crop that was drilled
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