Plant Sciences Wheat Programs Update

Rich Horsley

Department of Plant Sciences

Update on the Chair Search

• A barley breeder at NDSU since 1988.

• My appointment as Chair started in July 2010 and runs until December 31, 2011

• The search process for a permanent Chair will begin in March 2011.

Acknowledgements

• Thanks for the funding to of Plant Sciences wheat researchers.

• Thanks for funding for the New Greenhouse.

Greenhouse Main Entrance

Glasshouse Ranges

Glasshouse Rooms

Department of Plant Sciences

• 13 faculty in plant breeding• 6 faculty in germplasm enhancement• 6 faculty in weed science• 7 faculty in horticulture • 3 faculty in crop production/physiology*• 3 faculty in cereal science• 3 faculty in turfgrass

*Several of the breeding and extension programs conduct research in these areas.

Plant Sciences Breeding Programs

• Bread and Durum Wheat (3)

• Six- and Two-Rowed Barley (1)

• Dry Edible Bean and Pulse Crops (2)

• Pulses (1)

• Oat (1)

• Flax and Crambe (1)

• Corn (1)

• Soybean (1)

• Potato (1)

• Woody Plants (1)

Plant Sciences Wheat Researchers

• Mohamed Mergoum – HSW breeding

• Elias Elias – Durum wheat breeding

• Francois Marais – HRWW breeding

• Joel Ransom – Small grains extension

• Senay Simsek – Spring wheat quality

• Frank Manthey – Durum wheat quality

• Shahryar Kianian – Wheat germplasm enhancement

• Xiwen Cai – Wheat genetics

Winter Wheat Breeding

• Dr. Francois Marais began work on November 15.

Adjusting Priorities for Wheat Quality Lab

• Wheat Quality Survey.

• Winter wheat quality pre-fall planting.

• Spring wheat quality pre-fall planting in winter nurseries.

• Identify bottlenecks in accomplishing listed goals in a timely manner.

Wheat Research Highlights

• New varieties

• Mid- and long-term research goals

Figure courtesy of USDA, NASS North Dakota Field Office

Recent NDSU HRSW Releases

• Glenn – 2005

• Faller – 2007

• Steele ND – 2004

• Howard – 2006

• Alsen – 2000

• Collectively these varieties were planted on 51.3% of ND HRSW acres in 2010.

New NDSU HRSW Releases• Barlow (2009)

– High test weight – Excellent disease resistance.

• ND901CL (2010)– Clearfield resistance– Agreement signed with BASF– Very high protein and good test weight

• Mott (2009)– Saw Fly resistance– Yields better than Choteau– Susceptible to FHB and many foliar diseases

Figure courtesy of USDA, NASS North Dakota Field Office

Recent NDSU Durum Releases

• Divide – 2005

• Alkabo – 2005

• Grenora - 2005

• Tioga – new release in 2010

• The 8 most popular durum varieties are from NDSU and were planted on 84% of ND durum acreage in 2010.

Durum Breeding Activities

• Develop high quality durum for the domestic and international markets.

• Develop low cadmium varieties.

• Develop varieties with improved pre-harvest sprouting resistance.

• Develop varieties with improved FHB resistance.

Spring Wheat Quality Research

• Annual HRSW Crop Quality Survey.

• US Wheat export cargo analysis.

• Wheat Quality Council sample analysis.

• Presentations to trade teams.

• Analysis of breeder’s samples.

• Research on structure and function of wheat endosperm constituents and how they relate to dough quality.

Durum Quality Research

• Annual Durum Wheat Quality survey

• Analysis of samples for export

• Analysis of breeder’s samples

• Utilization of new equipment funded by NDWC

– Buehler durum mill (2-4 kg samples)

– Brabender Quadramat Jr. (100-200 g samples)

– Updated Texture analyzer (software and hardware)

Wheat Extension• Best of the Best in Wheat Research and Marketing

– Received Program Extension Award from NDSU Extension

• Variety x Fungicide research trials

– Spring and winter wheat

• Research on optimum planting date and seeding rate for winter wheat

– September 15 and no more than 1.2 million seeds to obtain optimum yields

Mid- and Long-term Wheat Research

• Dr. Shahryar Kianian– Mapping genes for economically important

traits.

• Dr. Xiwen Cai– Transferring genes for economically important

traits from wild wheat relatives and unadapted varieties into North Dakota wheat varieties.