Rapeseed adaptation in northern New South Wales. III.* Yield, yield components and grain quality of Brassica campestris and Brassica napus in relation to planting date

1979 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 19 ◽  
Author(s):  
AS Hodgson

The response of grain yield, yield components and grain quality of B. campestris and B. napus cultivars to planting date for two seasons at three locations from the north-western slopes to the northern tablelands of New South Wales are reported. The planting date that gave the highest yield varied between species and locations. The two species differed in the way yield components compensated for each other. For example, in B. campestris, yield variation was related to plant population and individual seed weight; in B. napus, both the number of pods per plant and the number of seeds per pod influenced yield. The oil content was highest in early plantings, decreased in later plantings, and was inversely related to protein content. The oil content was also inversely related to mean daily temperature during the grain-filling period. The northern tablelands was a more favourable region for rapeseed production than the northwestern slopes in terms of both grain yield and oil content. Implications of changes in the primary components of yield which are responsible for yield variations with planting date are discussed in relation to breeding objectives for rapeseed cultivar improvement. ____________________ *Part 11, Aust. J. Agric. Res., 29: 711 (1978).

1988 ◽  
Vol 28 (6) ◽  
pp. 801 ◽  
Author(s):  
RBH Wills ◽  
S Sirivatanapa ◽  
Sirivatanapa Somjate

Postharvest vacuum infiltration of calcium into mature but unripe Hass and Fuerte avocados obtained from 80 growers in the 3 major growing districts in Australia over 2 seasons delayed the time to ripen compared with untreated fruit; but the magnitude of the response varied. Hass fruit from 66% of growers in the Murray Valley showed a significant delay in ripening and the average increase in fruit from all growers was 45% over that of untreated fruit. The response of Fuerte fruit was similar between districts, with an average delay in ripening time of about 30% and with fruit from 60% of growers having a significant increase. Hass fruit from North Queensland and northern New South Wales gave the lowest average delay in ripening of about 10% and an increased delay was significant for fruit from 25% of growers. The quality of ripe Hass fruit was not affected by calcium infiltration, whereas a slight decrease in the quality of Fuerte fruit was observed.


2015 ◽  
Vol 66 (4) ◽  
pp. 349 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julianne M. Lilley ◽  
Lindsay W. Bell ◽  
John A. Kirkegaard

Recent expansion of cropping into Australia’s high-rainfall zone (HRZ) has involved dual-purpose crops suited to long growing seasons that produce both forage and grain. Early adoption of dual-purpose cropping involved cereals; however, dual-purpose canola (Brassica napus) can provide grazing and grain and a break crop for cereals and grass-based pastures. Grain yield and grazing potential of canola (up until bud-visible stage) were simulated, using APSIM, for four canola cultivars at 13 locations across Australia’s HRZ over 50 years. The influence of sowing date (2-weekly sowing dates from early March to late June), nitrogen (N) availability at sowing (50, 150 and 250 kg N/ha), and crop density (20, 40, 60, 80 plants/m2) on forage and grain production was explored in a factorial combination with the four canola cultivars. The cultivars represented winter, winter × spring intermediate, slow spring, and fast spring cultivars, which differed in response to vernalisation and photoperiod. Overall, there was significant potential for dual-purpose use of winter and winter × spring cultivars in all regions across Australia’s HRZ. Mean simulated potential yields exceeded 4.0 t/ha at most locations, with highest mean simulated grain yields (4.5–5.0 t/ha) in southern Victoria and lower yields (3.3–4.0 t/ha) in central and northern New South Wales. Winter cultivars sown early (March–mid-April) provided most forage (>2000 dry sheep equivalent (DSE) grazing days/ha) at most locations because of the extended vegetative stage linked to the high vernalisation requirement. At locations with Mediterranean climates, the low frequency (<30% of years) of early sowing opportunities before mid-April limited the utility of winter cultivars. Winter × spring cultivars (not yet commercially available), which have an intermediate phenology, had a longer, more reliable sowing window, high grazing potential (up to 1800 DSE-days/ha) and high grain-yield potential. Spring cultivars provided less, but had commercially useful grazing opportunities (300–700 DSE-days/ha) and similar yields to early-sown cultivars. Significant unrealised potential for dual-purpose canola crops of winter × spring and slow spring cultivars was suggested in the south-west of Western Australia, on the Northern Tablelands and Slopes of New South Wales and in southern Queensland. The simulations emphasised the importance of early sowing, adequate N supply and sowing density to maximise grazing potential from dual-purpose crops.


2003 ◽  
Vol 43 (1) ◽  
pp. 71 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. K. Conyers ◽  
C. L. Mullen ◽  
B. J. Scott ◽  
G. J. Poile ◽  
B. D. Braysher

The cost of buying, carting and spreading limestone, relative to the value of broadacre crops, makes investment in liming a questionable proposition for many farmers. The longer the beneficial effects of limestone persist, however, the more the investment in liming becomes economically favourable. We re-established previous lime trials with the aim of measuring the long-term effects of limestone on surface acidity (pH run-down), subsurface acidity (lime movement) and grain yield. The study made use of experiments where there was adequate early data on soil chemical properties and cereal yields. We report data from 6 trials located at 4 sites between Dubbo and Albury in New South Wales. The rate of surface soil (0–10 cm) pH decline after liming was proportional to the pH attained 1 year after liming. That is, the higher the pH achieved, the more rapid the rate of subsequent pH decline. Since yields (product removal) and nitrification (also acid producing) may both vary with pH, the post-liming pH acts as a surrogate for the productivity and acid-generating rate of the soil–plant system. The apparent lime loss rate of the surface soils ranged from the equivalent of nearly 500 kg limestone/ha.year at pH approaching 7, to almost zero at pH approaching 4. At commercial application rates of 2–2.5 t/ha, the movement of alkali below the layer of application was restricted. However, significant calcium (Ca) movement sometimes occurred to below 20 cm depth. At rates of limestone application exceeding the typical commercial rate of 2.5 t/ha, or at surface pH greater than about 5.5, alkali and Ca movement into acidic subsurface soil was clearly observed. It is therefore technically feasible to ameliorate subsurface soil acidity by applying heavy rates of limestone to the soil surface. However, the cost and risks of this option should be weighed against the use of acid-tolerant cultivars in combination with more moderate limestone rates worked into the surface soil.There was a positive residual benefit of limestone on cereal grain yield (either barley, wheat, triticale, or oats) at all sites in both the 1992 and 1993 seasons. While acid-tolerant cultivars were less lime responsive than acid-sensitive ones, the best yields were generally obtained using a combination of liming and acid-tolerant cultivars.The long-term residual benefits of limestone were shown to extend for beyond 8–12 years and indicate that liming should be profitable in the long term.


1992 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 465 ◽  
Author(s):  
AD Doyle ◽  
RW Kingston

The effect of sowing rate (10-110 kg/ha) on the grain yield of barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) was determined from a total of 20 field experiments conducted in northern New South Wales from 1983 to 1986. Effects of sowing rate on kernel weight and grain protein percentage were also determined from 12 experiments conducted in 1985 and 1986. Two barley varieties were tested each year. In all years fallow plus winter rainfall was equal to or greater than average. Grain yield increased with higher sowing rates in most experiments, with the response curve reaching a plateau above 60-70 kg/ha. For 13 of the 40 variety x year combinations, grain yield fell at the highest sowing rates. Only in an experiment where lodging increased substantially with higher sowing rates was there a reduction in yield at a sowing rate of 60 kg/ha. The average sowing rate for which 5 kg grain was produced per kg of seed sown was 63 kg/ha. Grain protein percentage usually fell, and kernel weight invariably fell, with increasing sowing rate. Increasing sowing rates from the normal commercial rate of 35 kg/ha to a rate of 60 kg/ha typically increased grain yields by 100-400 kg/ha, decreased kernel weight by 0.4-2.0 mg, and decreased grain protein by up to 0.5 percentage points. In no case was the grain weight reduced to below malting specifications. It was concluded that sowing rates for barley in northern New South Wales should be increased to about 60 kg/ha.


1985 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 922 ◽  
Author(s):  
D Lemerle ◽  
AR Leys ◽  
RB Hinkley ◽  
JA Fisher

Twelve spring wheat cultivars were tested in southern New South Wales for their tolerances to the recommended rates and three times the recommended rates of trifluralin, pendimethalin, tri-allate and chlorsulfuron. Recommended rates of these herbicides did not affect the emergence or grain yield of any cultivar. However, differences between cultivars in their tolerances to trifluralin, pendimethalin and chlorsulfuron at three times the recommended rate were identified. The extent of the reduction in emergence and/or grain yield varied with herbicide and season, and there was also a herbicidexseason interaction. Durati, Songlen and Tincurrin were the most susceptible cultivars to trifluralin, and Teal was the most tolerant. Yield losses from trifluralin were more severe in 1979 than in 1980 or 1981. The differential between cultivars treated with pendimethalin was smaller and more variable; Tincurrin was the only cultivar with a yield reduction in more than one season. Durati, Songlen and Shortim were the only cultivars affected by chlorsulfuron. A reduction in crop emergence of a cultivar treated with trifluralin or pendimethalin did not correlate consistently with any grain yield loss, and reductions in emergence were always greater than yield loss.


1995 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 93 ◽  
Author(s):  
RD FitzGerald ◽  
ML Curll ◽  
EW Heap

Thirty varieties of wheat originating from Australia, UK, USA, Ukraine, and France were evaluated over 3 years as dual-purpose wheats for the high rainfall environment of the Northern Tablelands of New South Wales (mean annual rainfall 851 mm). Mean grain yields (1.9-4.3 t/ha) compared favourably with record yields in the traditional Australian wheatbelt, but were much poorer than average yields of 6.5 t/ha reported for UK crops. A 6-week delay in sowing time halved grain yield in 1983; cutting in spring reduced yield by 40% in 1986. Grazing during winter did not significantly reduce yields. Results indicate that the development of wheat varieties adapted to the higher rainfall tablelands and suited to Australian marketing requirements might help to provide a useful alternative enterprise for tableland livestock producers.


1992 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 214 ◽  
Author(s):  
RL Pressey

Information on the features to be protected in a system of conservation reserves is an obvious requirement. The quality of the data base will primarily determine the effectiveness of conservation planning in protecting the full range of natural features in a region. However, the way in which data are used to make decisions on the locations of protected areas is also critical. Rigorous procedures for reserve selection can make the difference between achieving reservation goals or not. Research on reserve selection in New South Wales over recent years has concerned both data bases and procedures for guiding decisions. Reserve planning in many regions is based largely on some form of land classification like vegetation types or land systems. There are good reasons for using such land classes to guide the selection of reserves and to judge their representativeness. Nevertheless, they can have considerable limitations as a basis for protecting all the species in a region. These limitations are reviewed with references to more detailed discussions of particular issues. The paper also reviews a variety of procedures for selecting reserves which have been tested and applied in New South Wales. Some of the recent procedures are conceptually simple but very useful in identifying the requirements of reservation goals and demonstrating the options available to planners for representing particular features. Three principles are proposed which should underpin any attempt at systematic conservation planning.


1984 ◽  
Vol 24 (125) ◽  
pp. 236
Author(s):  
GK McDonald ◽  
BG Sutton ◽  
FW Ellison

Three winter cereals (wheat varieties Songlen and WW 15, triticale variety Satu) were grown after cotton or summer fallow under three levels of applied nitrogen (0, 100 and 200 kg N/ha) at Narrabri, New South Wales. The cereals were sown on August 7, 1980 and growing season rainfall was supplemented by a single irrigation. Leaf area, total shoot dry matter production and ears per square metre were lower after cotton than after summer fallow, while grain yields of cereals sown immediately after cotton were 33% lower than those sown after fallow. Adding nitrogen increased leaf area, dry matter and grain yields of crops grown after cotton and fallow, but significant increases were not obtained with more than 100 kg/ha of applied nitrogen. Crops grown after cotton required an application of 100 kg N/ha for leaf and dry matter production at anthesis to equal that of crops grown after fallow with no additional nitrogen. The corresponding cost to grain yield of growing cotton was equivalent to 200 kg N/ha. The low grain yield responses measured in this experiment (1 8 and 10% increase to 100 kg N/ha after cotton and fallow, respectively) were attributed to the combined effects of late sowing, low levels of soil moisture and loss, by denitrification, of some of the applied nitrogen. The triticale, Satu, yielded significantly less than the two wheats (1 99 g/m2 for Satu c.f. 255 and 286 g/m2 for Songlen and WW 15, respectively), and did not appear to be a viable alternative to wheat in a cotton rotation.


2005 ◽  
Vol 45 (3) ◽  
pp. 269 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. F. Herridge ◽  
M. J. Robertson ◽  
B. Cocks ◽  
M. B. Peoples ◽  
J. F. Holland ◽  
...  

Apparent nodulation failures and associated low grain yields have been reported for commercial mungbean (Vigna radiata) crops in southern Queensland and northern New South Wales. We therefore conducted on-farm surveys of 40 commercial mungbean crops in the region in which symbiotic traits, i.e. nodulation and nitrogen fixation, and biomass and grain yield were monitored. Effects of bradyrhizobial inoculation and inoculation methods on mungbean and soybean (Glycine max) symbiosis and yield were determined in experiments at 3 sites in northern New South Wales. Thirty-four of the 35 mungbean crops assessed for nodulation were nodulated. The relationship between soil nitrate to a depth of 90 cm at sowing and mungbean nodulation was not significant. However, at low-to-moderate soil nitrate levels (<100 kg N/ha), the mean nodule score was 1.6, compared with 0.5 at high (>100 kg N/ha) soil nitrate levels. Soil nitrate had a negative effect on the percentage of mungbean nitrogen derived from nitrogen fixation (%Ndfa). Mean %Ndfa values for soil nitrate levels <50, >50–100 and >100 kg N/ha were 35, 22 and 19% respectively. Grain yields of the surveyed mungbean crops varied from 0.3 to 2.1 t/ha, and were correlated with shoot dry matter. Grain yield was not significantly correlated either with sowing soil nitrate, nodule score or %Ndfa. In the inoculation experiments, mungbean did not nodulate as well as soybean, producing about one-third the number of nodules. Both species responded to inoculation with increased nodulation, although data from one of the sites suggested that responses during early growth of mungbean were not maintained during pod-fill. Effects of inoculation on mungbean %Ndfa were marginal. Average increases were 9%, based on natural 15N abundance, and 6%, based on the ureide method. Soybean %Ndfa, on the other hand, responded strongly to inoculation, with increases of 56 (15N) and 77% (ureide). Inoculation increased mungbean crop N by an average of 10% and grain yield by 6%, compared with responses to fertiliser nitrogen of 31% (crop N) and 10% (grain yield). For soybean, inoculation increased crop nitrogen by 43% and grain yield by 7%, similar to responses to fertiliser nitrogen of 45 (crop N) and 5% (grain yield). These results suggest that inoculated mungbean was N-limited and that inoculation of mungbean using current technology may be somewhat ineffectual. We concluded that low nodulation and nitrogen fixation of commercial mungbean most likely results from the suppressive effects of nitrate and/or insufficient numbers of bradyrhizobia in the soil. When low symbiosis and low soil nitrate are combined, N is likely to limit crop growth, and potentially grain yield. Suggested strategies for improving mungbean nodulation and nitrogen fixation in the northern grains belt include selection of more symbiotically competent plant and bradyrhizobial genotypes and more effective utilisation of established soil populations of mungbean bradyrhizobia.


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