Arable
Novel winter wheat offers cost-effective
virus control • 82% of wheat area now at BYDV risk • Variety off ers season-long protection • Makes for easier crop management
urope’s fi rst winter wheat with resistance to barley yellow dwarf virus is delivering out- standing disease control even under extreme pressure this season. Speaking at a recent RAGT Seeds
E
open day, cereals product manager Tom Dummett said trials and experience in the fi eld showed that RGT Wolverine was offering cost-effective, season-long protection against BYDV. “That’s very good news for growers,
said Mr Dummett. “Some 82% of the wheat crop area is at risk from BYDV. Yield losses in untreated crops aver- age 8%, but can reach 60%”. The withdrawal of neonicotinoid
seed treatments had had a signifi cant impact on BYDV management in re- cent seasons, said Mr Dummett. It left pyrethroid insecticides as the only remaining chemical option to control aphids carrying the virus. RGT Wolverine, which will be wide-
ly available for sowing this autumn, of- fers protection from the day it is plant- ed to the day it is cut. Assuming a seed rate of 175kg/ha, the resistance trait costs just £15/ha.
“That is exceptional value for mon-
ey, especially when you consider that neonicotinoid seed treatments, which were widely used, had been costing farmers about £23/ha for six weeks
control,” said Mr Dummett. “This was often followed by a pyre- throid to extend protection by a week or two. Including application costs, that added a further £17/ha, taking the to- tal to £40/ha.”
Now neonicotinoids have been with-
drawn, farmers facing similar aphid pressure might need to spray pyre- throids twice, costing £34/ha – and probably more often with questiona- ble results, he added. “Pyrethroids only have a relative short period of activity, which means repeat applications may be needed. In addition, resistant aphids can be found in increasing numbers.”
Assuming an 8% loss on an 8t/ha crop worth £160/t, Wolverine’s genet- ic solution equated to a return on in- vestment of almost £88/ha. “It’s a no-brainer, especially when you consider it also greatly eases man- agement, removes the need to mon- itor aphid populations and benefi ts the environment. Growers who choose RGT Wolverine really can forget about BYDV control.”
Extreme pressure RGT Wolverine is a high yielding hard feed wheat recently promoted to the Recommended List. It contains the Bdv2 gene which confers resistance
GIBSON’S SEEDS SEED GROWERS, PROCESSORS & MERCHANTS
Varieties of C2 Seed Autumn 2021
KWS Zyatt, KWS Extase, KWS Firefly, KWS Kerrin, LG Skyscraper, Gleam, RGT Wolverine, KWS Cranium. Spring 2022 Wheat - KWS Cochise. Beans – Lynx.
Suppliers of certified seed throughout East Anglia Seed cleaning and dressing undertaken
R A Gibson (Colesden) Ltd
Bell Farm, Colesden, Bedford. T: 01234 376 284 E:
office@ragibson.co.uk W:
www.ragibson.co.uk
10 ANGLIA FARMER • AUGUST 2021
Call us on 01284 747292 or email
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Tom Dummett assesses a BYDV-infected wheat variety
Growers really can forget about BYDV control
“
to BYDV – with trials at Ickleton in Cambridgeshire putting the trait un- der extreme pressure. They were sown in early September and then inoculated with virus-laden aphids four times in the autumn and four times in the spring. Plots were as- sessed weekly for disease symptoms from mid-April.
The variety – and other Bdv2 pipe- line varieties – shrugged off infection. But several widely grown commercial winter wheats suffered badly, with the worst affected showing severe stunt- ing and yellowing. “All 13 non-Bdv2 wheats in the tri- al are showing symptoms, from obvi- ous multiple infection sites to stunting throughout the plot,” said Mr Dum- mett. “The difference between the worst-affected varieties and the Bdv2 varieties is like chalk and cheese.” In last year’s trial, eight out of 10 popular conventional winter wheat va- rieties yielded between 5% and 18% less when left untreated, whereas none of the Bdv2 lines lost yield.
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