Miss Chloe Rout1,2, Prof. Ken Flower1,2, Dr Matthias Leopold1,2, Dr Andrew Wherrett1,2
1Living Farm, 2UWA
Biography:
Chloe is a Research Agronomist at Living Farm based in York. During 2022, Chloe undertook her Agricultural Science Honours focused on exploring the compensatory ability of hybrid canola, while working part time at Living Farm on the GRDC funded Canola Establishment in the Low Rainfall Zones Project. Since graduating as valedictorian at UWA, Chloe has moved into a full-time position at Living Farm where she continues to work on different projects.
Abstract:
Canola (Brassica napus L.) is an important oilseed crop that underpins cereal grain production in Australia. Poor establishment continues to pose a significant challenge for Australian producers with greater than 40% of canola seeds failing to emerge in the field. Despite this, there has been limited research to support grower decision-making on whether to reseed hybrid canola following poor establishment. In this study, the phenotypic response of hybrid canola to decreasing plant density, from 40 plants/m2 to 5 plants/m2 was assessed. The associated response to re-seeding with cheaper open pollinated canola seed at hybrid plant densities below 50% of the recommended optimum (<20 plants/m2) was also evaluated. To quantify the compensatory ability of hybrid canola and advantages of reseeding, changes in plant architecture (podding pattern), canopy cover, and yield was measured in response to different establishment rates (5-40 plants/m2) in a field trial located near York, Western Australia during the 2022 growing season. The results of this study suggest the phenotypic response of hybrid canola was strongly associated with plant density. Seasonal conditions in 2022 allowed hybrid canola to adequately compensate for poor field canola establishment, producing significantly greater number of tertiary pods and equivalent optimal yield at plant densities above 10 plants/m2. Unexpectedly, reseeding hybrid canola with open pollinated canola adversely impacted yield suggesting it was not beneficial to reseed. Future research must continue to investigate the compensatory ability of hybrid canola under varying rainfall and soil conditions to provide farmers with more robust information on reseeding canola.