Cereal, Oil and Grain Legume Seed Production. Thomas G Chastain CSS 460/560 Seed Production

Transcription

1 Cereal, Oil and Grain Legume Seed Production Thomas G Chastain CSS 460/560 Seed Production

2 Cereals Several small grain cereal seed crops are grown in the Pacific Northwest including wheat, barley, oats, triticale, and rye. Many small grain cereal grain growers save grain rather than using professionally grown seed for planting and acreages are not tracked. Planting certified seed guarantees: 1. high seed purity 2. high germination 3. no prohibited noxious weed seed 4. low amounts of weeds or other crop seeds 5. known cultivar (for high grain yield, baking quality, etc.). Wheat seed field near La Grande

3 Cereals Seed - must use the correct seed for the intended generation. Seedbed - The seedbed must be free from weeds and meet land history requirements for cereals. Seedbeds need not be fine and firm. Crop residues in the seedbed are only a problem in dryland plantings. High residue levels may reduce stand establishment. Irrigated cereal seed crops are becoming more common. Large seed size is desirable and is more likely in irrigated production. Barley seed field (top), wheat seed (left), barley seed (right)

4 Cereals Plant populations - Planting rates and row spacings are similar to those used for grain production. Seeding rate affects tillering in small grain cereals. Optimum seeding rate for wheat is seeds ft 2. Cultivars with low tillering capacity may require greater seeding rates. Low seeding rate causes increased number of tillers/plant, numbers of seeds/spike, seed size, and percent cleanout. High seeding rate reduces number of tillers/plant, numbers of seeds/spikes, seed size, and percent cleanout. Must be sown in rows. Direct-seeding wheat (top), double-disc drill openers (bottom)

5 Cereals Fertilizer Management - Nitrogen is the most important element in cereal seed production. Nitrogen promotes tillering and increases the protein content of the seed. Nitrogen applications above the optimum rate do not increase seed yield, these applications only increase the protein content of the seed. Club wheat: no N (above), 80 lbs./acre N (below)

6 Cereals Diseases - These include barley yellow dwarf virus, dwarf bunt, ergot, root rots (Fusarium and strawbreaker), and rust. These diseases can be controlled by seed treatment fungicides, foliar fungicides, and crop rotation. Insects - These include wireworms and aphids. Wheat spike showing dwarf bunt (top right), greenbug an aphid on wheat (bottom right Ken Gray photo), Fusarium root rot (left),

7 Cereals Weeds - These include rye, downy brome, jointed goatgrass, wild oats, and others. These can be controlled with herbicides and crop rotation. Jointed goatgrass (top left), downy brome (bottom left), wild oats (right)

8 Cereals Seed quality. Wheat seed threshed with an axial flow rotary combine had less damage than when threshed with a conventional combine. Damaged seed produced lower wheat crop emergence and grain yield. Cereal seed crops are direct combined at 12% seed moisture content. Wheat seed vigor can be affected by combine cylinder speed. At 450 rpm, seed vigor was high but threshing of the seed was incomplete. At 850 rpm, seed vigor was moderate and the most good quality seed came out of this fraction. At 1250 rpm, seed vigor was reduced because of cracking.

9 Effect of wheat seed sprouting severity on spike density and grain yield (Chastain et al.,1994) Seed type Sprouting Severity Spike Density Grain Yield No. m -2 Kg ha -1 Normal 489 c 6363 b Sprouted A 509 c 6322 b B 515 c 6775 b C 408 b 6539 b D 230 a 4362 a Cereals Seed quality. Planting quality of wheat seed may be reduced by pre-harvest sprouting. Depending on the degree of sprouting severity, stand establishment and grain yield may be reduced when fields are sown with sprouted seed. A B C D Sprouting severity Poor wheat stand caused by sprouted seed

10 Cereals Seed quality. Some seed companies screen wheat and barley seed and market the large seed separately. This large seed produces better stands than smaller seed from the same harvested crop. Large seed produced greater tiller production and grain yield than small seed. Seed size effects on winter barley stand establishment (Chastain et al., 1995) Emerging seedlings showing coleoptiles (left)

11 Food Legumes Several food legume crops are grown for seed in the Pacific Northwest. These include peas, lentil, chickpeas, beans, and lupin. Typically, the acreage of food legumes produced for seed crops are small in the region, and these are primarily located in Washington and Idaho. Peas, lentils, and chickpeas are grown for seed in the Palouse region of eastern Washington and northern Idaho. Beans are grown for seed in the central basin of Washington and southern Idaho. White lupin in flower (top), pea and bean seed (bottom)

12 Young chickpea stand (top), pea field in Palouse hills (bottom) Food Legumes Seed production of food legumes unlike forage legumes does not require specialized production practices. Practices for grain production of these crops are used for seed production. Weed and disease control are more intensive in a food legume seed field.

13 Oil Seed Crops Several oil seed crops are grown for the purposes of seed production in the Pacific Northwest. These include canola, mustard, sunflower, safflower, camelina and flax. Like the cereal and food legume seed crops, these is no tracking of the acreages of oil seed crops for seed production. Sunflower crop Safflower

14 Seed Yield (lbs/acre) Oil Seed Crops Canola. Time of planting is important as later plantings give poorer seed yields y = x x R² = GDD from planting until December 1 Time of planting effects on canola seedlings (above), relationship of canola seed yield to planting time(right).

15 Seed Yield (lbs/acre) Oil Seed Crops Canola. Seed production is responsive to nitrogen fertilizer in the spring, more so in wet years than in dry years. Major diseases of canola include sclerotinia stem rot and black leg while the cabbage seedpod weevil is an important insect pest of canola Wet Dry Spring N (lbs/acre) Cabbage seed pod weevil (Ken Gray photo-right), relationship of canola seed yield to spring N fertilizer(top).

16 Oil Seed Crops Canola was developed by conventional breeding methods, but some newer cultivars have been bred for herbicide resistance (GMO). Non-GMO cultivars have yields that are equivalent or better than GMOs Seed yield (lbs/acre) of non-gmo winter canola cultivars* Cultivar Athena Baldur Ceres Kronos Virginia Hybrid cultivar Winter canola cultivar evaluation trials at Hyslop Farm

17 Oil Seed Crops Flax (Linum usitatissimum) is an oil-seed crop in the flax family. Oil concentrations in the seed range from 30 to 45%. Flax seed is the source of linseed oil and used in paints, stains, and linoleum flooring. Spring flax yields range from 600 to 1500 lbs/acre, winter flax yields up to 2000 lbs/acre. Mustard (Brassica hirta, B. juncea and Sinapsis alba) are oil seed crops in the mustard family. Oil concentration in the seed is 27%. A powerfullyflavored cooking oil that has good levels of omega-3 fatty acids. Also used in production of condiment mustard and as a spice. Seed yield ranges from 1,500 to 2000 lbs./acre. Flax flowers (Garbacik photo-above), yellow mustard (Sinapsis alba) (bottom)

18 Oil Seed Crops Camelina. Originating in Europe, Camelina sativa is a spring annual oil seed crop in the mustard family. Seed is very small, about 1/3 the size of canola. Oil concentration in the seed is 40%. Nutrition. High in omega-3 fatty acids and antioxidants, will be an increasingly important food oil. Has potential as aviation fuel feedstock. Production. Seed yields range from 1000 to 1800 lbs./acre in the Willamette Valley. Production of camelina is now underway in several western states including Montana and Oregon. Camelina pods (top) and seed (left).

19 Seed Yield (lbs/acre) Oil Seed Crops Production. Has peculiar response to date of planting best seed yields are from planting in midwinter, even on snow! Day of Year Camelina seed yield response to planting date in the Willamette Valley (top), downy mildew disease on camelina (left).