NEWS for North Dakotans
Agriculture Communication, North Dakota State University
7 Morrill Hall, Fargo, ND 58105-5665

February 4, 1999

California Frost Hits Scab-Tolerant Experimental Hard Red Spring Wheat Line

Frost hit an area encompassing the California winter nursery where the North Dakota Agricultural Experiment Station (NDAES) is increasing the seed of an experimental hard red spring wheat line tolerant to Fusarium head blight (scab).

"The plants were just starting to head when it froze," says Al Schneiter, chair of the NDSU Department of Plant Sciences. "This won't set back the release, but it will affect the amount of seed available when the line is released."

Not all the seed production in California will be lost, says LeRoy Spilde, director of the NDSU seed stocks program. Technicians have trimmed the frost-damaged material from the plants to open the canopy so tillers will have more space to grow. The nursery is irrigated, and the technicians have applied additional nitrogen to stimulate tiller growth.

"We're going to salvage what we can," Schneiter says.

The experimental line in California possesses good yield and quality, good protein and is more scab tolerant than any of the varieties currently available, says Richard Frohberg, NDSU's hard red spring wheat breeder. The type of scab tolerance this line possesses prevents the disease from spreading in the wheat spike. Another experimental line currently undergoing a seed increase in New Zealand possesses the same type of scab tolerance.

The California nursery is located in the southern Imperial Valley, about 50 miles from Yuma, Ariz., Spilde says. The location is outside the Southwest's quarantine area for Karnal bunt. NDSU researchers and the NDAES have been increasing seed in this region since the mid-1960s, and this is the first time frost damage has occurred.

Spilde says the California nursery contains 28 acres of the scab-tolerant wheat. This acreage represents a significant jump; typically, seed increases occur on plots of from 2 to 5 acres. The New Zealand winter nursery contains 2½ acres of both experimental wheat lines. Barring unforeseen weather developments in New Zealand, he expects seed quantities to total about 100 bushels each.

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Sources: Al Schneiter (701) 231-8137, Richard Frohberg (701) 231-8143 and LeRoy Spilde (701) 231-8140

Editor: Dean Hulse (701) 231-6136