March 28, 2002

Dilse, A New Variety of Durum Released by NDSU

The North Dakota Agricultural Experiment Station at North Dakota State University announces the release of a new durum variety named "Dilse."

Dilse was selected from the cross made between Maier and the experimental line D88273, says Elias M. Elias, associate professor and durum plant breeder in NDSU's Department of Plant Sciences. Dilse is resistant to both leaf and stem rust diseases and its leaf disease resistance is similar to Pierce, Mountrail and Maier. It has similar Fusarium head blight disease ratings to Plaza, which is lower than all NDSU varieties except Lebsock. Dilse is a strong gluten durum variety with a yield potential similar to Maier and Ben. It is adapted to growing in a wide area of North Dakota.

In the Dickinson area, Dilse has similar yield to the high yielding varieties Pierce and Mountrail. Dilse has higher test weight than Mountrail, Maier, Munich, Renville, Belzer, and Plaza. Its plant height is similar to Lebsock. Days to head, straw strength and kernel weight are similar to Mountrail. Dilse has high protein content, strong gluten strength and good pasta color and firmness.

Initial seed allocation will be through the county crop improvement and seed associations and the North Dakota Agricultural Association. Research was partially supported by funds from the North Dakota Wheat Commission and the National Pasta Association.

The new variety was named in honor of Frank Dilse, former member of the North Dakota Wheat Commission from Scranton, who passed away recently.

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Source: Elias Elias, (701) 231-8159, elias.elias@ndsu.nodak.edu
Editor: Tom Jirik, (701) 231-9629, tjirik@ndsuext.nodak.edu