Pacific Seeds, CSIRO app to enhance Australian Grain-n-Graze canola hybrids’ germplasm

Australian canola growers could soon have access to an app showing them when various canola hybrids would flower depending on their location and showing date, with initial findings of a $250,000 CSIRO and Pacific Seeds joint venture set to be showcased in February. The three-year research project — launched in July and titled Winter Canola Research — is focused on vernalisation, which is the plant’s flowering process by exposure to prolonged cold in winter. At the end of the project, researchers plan to release a canola Technical Management Guide app for existing and novel Grain-n-Graze germplasm. It will include the appropriate choice of varieties for diverse sites and optimising sowing dates to maximise forage and grain production, together with crop phenology and animal management advice based on the latest research and industry consultation. Perth-based CSIRO principal research scientist Matthew Nelson, pictured, said the project aimed to improve access to integrated and region-specific information on agronomy, phenology and extension for grain and graze canola hybrids. He said the app would give farmers information on vernalisation of various canola varieties at their fingertips. “There are four different sites in the country, one of which is in WA. Each site has a similar design with 15 varieties, all from Pacific Seeds,” he said. “This includes winter and spring maturity types, and there are three replicates. There are three times of sowing. “One is early, and two are more normal, and we are really trying to push the limits a little bit. We know there are four different sites with four different temperature profiles — so we are specifically interested in vernalisation — the cold requirement, and then the ongoing influences of thermal time, which is the heat requirement. “Vernalisation is at its optimum at 2C, giving a strong vernalisation effect, and at about 15C there is no vernalisation effect.” Trials are being conducted this season in Northam in WA, Port Lincoln in South Australia, Wallendbeen in NSW, and Gatton in Queensland. Each includes about 250 rows with various Pacific Seeds winter and spring varieties, with three different sowing times — mid-March, mid-April and mid-May. The project is being managed by CSIRO mixed farming innovations group leader Julianne Lilley, CSIRO farming systems scientist Dr Jeremy Whish, CSIRO grazing animal scientist Rebecca Stutz, and Pacific Seeds national canola technical manager Justin Kudnig. Mr Kudnig said sites were chosen based on research of canola flowering and time of sowing. “Those four locations give the research team the points needed to run the models to generate flowering data,” he said. “The more you can tailor your variety choice and agronomy approach to your local conditions, the more your crops and farming business can prosper.” Mr Kudnig said there was “strong indication” the project would be extended as new Pacific Seeds varieties were released with initial outcomes expected to be publicly released in February and the app likely to be released at the end of initial three years of the project. He said the app would enable growers to select the variety and time of sowing, and make decisions on when each would flower and mature. “The app will help them with their decisions on time of sowing, spraying, fertilising, and grazing management,” Mr Kudnig said. Dr Lilley said the research would help develop a world-first interactive decision-making tool for canola variety selection, sowing advice, grazing advice, applied crop nutrition agronomy, and animal health.