Gan: Evaluation of Adaptability and Ecological Performance of Brassica Juncea Canola in Diverse Growing Environments
Date: March 2013
Term: 3 years
Status: Completed
Researcher(s): Yantai Gan, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) Swift Current SK, Eric Johnson, AAFC Scott SK, Cecil Vera, AAFC Melfort, Bill May and Guy Lafond, AAFC Indian Head SK, Robert Blackshaw, AAFC Lethbridge AB
SaskCanola Investment: n/a
Total Project Cost: n/a
Funding Partners: n/a
Project Summary
Researchers at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) in Saskatchewan conducted a three-year study to determine the yielding capacity of B. juncea canola in comparison with B. napus canola in various sites. They also examined the suitability and feasibility of straight-combining B. juncea canola and B. napus canola by quantifying seed and pod losses during plant maturity. Overall, hybrid B. napus canola was still the best yielding crop at most sites and in most years even in the drier areas of the average- and low-yielding sites. Therefore, B. napus may be better cultivars for short growing season areas as compared to B. juncea.
Researchers at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) in Saskatchewan conducted a three-year study to determine the yielding capacity of B. juncea canola in comparison with B. napus canola in various sites. They also examined the suitability and feasibility of straight-combining B. juncea canola and B. napus canola by quantifying seed and pod losses during plant maturity.
Field trials were conducted at four experimental sites in Saskatchewan in 2010 (Melfort, Indian Head, Scott and Swift Current) and 5 sites in 2011 (Melfort, Indian Head, Scott, Swift Current and Lethbridge). Seven Brassica varieties were compared at each location, including: B. juncea hybrid (201045J10), three B. juncea varieties (XCEED 8571 CF, XCEED 8570 CF and a genetic line) B. napus canola RR (46P50), B. napus canola LL(5440) and B. juncea condiment mustard (cv. Cutlass). Seed losses and pod shattering were measured at pod maturity. All plots were straight combined and seed yields measured.
From the study, researchers found that oriental mustard had the shortest growing period to reach maturity compared with other oilseed species/cultivars. Although the two B. napus cultivars took longer to reach maturity than oriental mustard, they were still quicker to mature than the B. juncea cultivars. (See Figure 1) Therefore, B. napus may be better cultivars for short growing season areas as compared to B. juncea.
Figure 1. Difference of the days to end of flowering among different canola cultivars. Different small letter means significantly difference between Brassicas at the level of 0.05. The bold bar in each box means the mean value of the days to 10% flowering of each cultivar
Oriental or yellow mustard had the lowest amount of shattered seed among the oilseed species, and RR B. napus had the largest accumulative seed loss, followed by LL B. napus. There were no significant differences in seed shattering among all four B. juncea cultivars.
The study showed that B. napus cultivars had higher seed yields than the B. juncea cultivars. (See Table 1) LL B. napus had the highest yield of all cultivars, while the Juncea canola had the lowest seed yield. Although seed yield differences were small among the cultivars in Lethbridge 2012, Indian Head 2010 and Scott 2012, there were significant differences in Lethbridge 2011, Indian Head 2011 and 2012, and Scott 2010 and 2011. The magnitude of the yield differences between cultivars may be due to environmental factors.
Overall, hybrid B. napus canola was still the best yielding crop at most sites and in most years even in the drier areas of the average- and low-yielding sites. Therefore, B. napus may be better cultivars for short growing season areas as compared to B. juncea. The next steps will be for breeders to enhance the genetic level of yielding in hybrid B. juncea to reach similar or higher yields than B. napus.
Table 1. Canola cultivar effects on yield at different site-years
Full Report PDF: n/a