Brandt: Comparison of Certified and Farm-Saved Seed on Yield and Quality Characteristics of Canola
Date: 2008
Term: 2 years
Status: Completed
Researcher(s): Stewart Brandt & Eric Johnson, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) Scott SK, Dr. G.W. Clayton, Dr. R.E. Blackshaw & Dr. E.G. Smith, AAFC, Lethbridge AB, Dr. J.T. O'Donovan & Dr. K.N. Harker, AAFC, Lacombe AB, Dr. H.R. Kutcher & Dr. C. Vera, AAFC, Melfort SK & M. Hartman, Alberta Agriculture and Rural Development, Lacombe AB
SaskCanola Investment: n/a
Total Project Cost: n/a
Funding Partners: ACPC
Project Summary
Most of Canada’s canola crop is produced using certified seed. With rising input costs, some producers are tempted to save and replant seed (farm-saved seed) grown from a hybrid variety. Researchers from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada at Scott, Saskatchewan, and Lacombe, Alberta, investigated the impact of using farm-saved seed from a hybrid canola to grow a succeeding crop. Research results showed that certified hybrid seed yielded 13.5% higher on average than hybrid farm-saved seed. Along with yield losses, producers face a higher production risk by growing farm-saved hybrid seed on plant density, maturity, seed weight and seed oil content. Producers are recommended to use certified hybrid canola seed to maximize yield and net returns. The NR advantage of the hybrid certified seed increased with increased canola prices.
Most of Canada’s canola crop is produced using certified seed. With rising input costs, some producers are tempted to save and replant seed (farm-saved seed) grown from a hybrid variety. Researchers from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada at Scott, Saskatchewan, and Lacombe, Alberta, investigated the impact of using farm-saved seed from open-pollinated and hybrid canola to grow a succeeding crop. Although the loss of hybrid vigour in the F2 generation is well documented, researchers wanted to quantify the economic risks that producers may face by sowing farm-saved seed.
Buying certified seed is assurance of quality, and with hybrids, it is an assurance of the quality and the traits included in the F1 (first) generation. Farm-saved F2 (second generation) seed from hybrid plants is not the same as the parent hybrid and yield and quality can be affected if F2 seed is used. Using farm-saved or F2 hybrid seed is like gambling on genetic traits and which ones might appear in the farm-saved generation, as compared to what is guaranteed in an F1 hybrid.
Open pollinated and hybrid cultivars are not the same, and it is important to understand the differences. Open pollinated varieties are based on pure breeding lines that reproduce themselves from one generation to the next with a lot of precision. Open pollinated varieties are also genetically stable from one generation to the next. However, hybrid varieties are the product of a cross between two genetically dissimilar parents. The resulting F1 hybrid generation is very uniform, but the F2 generation is virtually segregated and none of the F2 plants are genetically the same as F1. Therefore, a proportion of F2 plants lose vigour and other useful characteristics, such as herbicide tolerance.
In this project, researchers investigated the planting of certified seed and farm-saved seed of an open-pollinated cultivar and a hybrid canola cultivar in direct-seeded field experiments at 6 locations in Saskatchewan and Alberta in 2004 and 2005. The study demonstrated the production risks of growing hybrid farm-saved seed on plant density, yield, maturity and seed oil content.
Researchers compared normal seeding rates and two times the seeding rate to determine whether or not increasing seeding rates and selecting larger sized seed could compensate for F2 seed and hybrid vigour. Three different seedlots for each seed source were combined to try to account for seed lot effects. All of the seed lots in the trial were sent to a certified seed laboratory, and all exceeded 90% germination.
The research did not find any difference in yield and quality between certified open pollinated canola and farm-saved open pollinated canola. Oil and glucosinolate content of canola grown from certified and farm saved seed was similar as well. However, research results showed that certified hybrid seed yielded 13.5% to 16% higher on average than hybrid farm-saved seed. The yield advantage of certified hybrid over farm-saved F2 from hybrid plants was always greater than any potential cost savings associated with farm- saved seed.
Researchers also compared the net returns (NR) of hybrid certified seed to both hybrid and open-pollinated farm-saved seed at different canola prices. At a canola price of $250/tonne and current seed costs, NR of hybrid certified seed was $51.30/ha higher than for hybrid farm-saved seed $74.60/ha greater than open-pollinated farm-saved seed. At a canola price of $650/tonne, the NR of hybrid certified seed was $209/ha higher than hybrid farm-saved seed and $322/ha higher than open-pollinated farm-saved seed. The NR advantage of the hybrid certified seed increased with increased canola prices.
Using farm-saved seed from hybrid canola compared with hybrid certified seed reduced plant population density by 16 to 18% at the time of crop maturity, delayed maturity by 2 days, reduced seed oil content by 5g/kg and resulted in a small increase in the incidence of green seed. Most certified hybrid seed comes pre-treated and for this study Helix- treated certified seed was used. The most effective seed treatments are not available for use on farm-saved seed, and for this study the results show that untreated farm-saved hybrid seed yielded 20% less than Helix-treated certified hybrid canola seed. Using increased seeding rates or sizing and planting only large seed of farm-saved hybrid canola did not compensate for yield and quality losses associated with farm-saved hybrid seed.
Overall, the research shows that producers face a higher production risk by growing a canola crop from farm-saved hybrid seed on plant density, yield, maturity, seed weight and seed oil content. Growing a canola crop from certified hybrid canola seed provides good agronomic value and growing farm-saved seed from hybrids is not recommended.
Scientific Publications
Clayton, G.W., Brandt, S.A., Johnson, E.N., O′Donovan, J.T., Harker, K.N., Blackshaw, R.E., Smith, E.G., Kutcher, H.R., Vera, C.L., and Hartman, M. (2009). "Comparison of certified and farm−saved seed on yield and quality characteristics of canola", Agronomy Journal, 101(6), pp. 1581−1588.
Elwin G. Smith, M. Lucila Favret, George W. Clayton, Robert E. Blackshaw, Stewart Brandt, Eric N. Johnson, K. Neil Harker, John T. O’Donovan, H. Randy Kutcher, and Cecil Vera 2010. The Profitability of Seeding the F2 Generation of Hybrid Canola. Agron. J. 102: 598-605.