Joseph
M. Nyachiro, James H. Helm, Patricia Juskiw, Don Salmon, Jennifer Zantinge,
George Clayton, Kequan Xi, Kelly Turkington, and Mike Oro
Alberta Agriculture, Food & Rural Development
Field Crop Development Centre
5030 - 50 Street, Lacombe, AB T4L 1W8
Phone (403) 782-4641 Fax (403) 782-5514
Our website: http://www.agric.gov.ab.ca/ministry/pid/fcdc/index.html
In 2002, there were severe drought conditions in the Prairie Provinces of Canada. The severe drought conditions caused huge grain yield losses. Total barley production was estimated at 7.3 million tonnes which was 43% below the 5-year average and 33% lower than the 2001 barley production. According to Statistics Canada, Alberta farmers planted about 5.4 million acres (2.7 million ha) of barley in 2002, with the total barley production about 2.5 million tonnes. This was 56% below the 5-year average and 51% below the 2001 production. This was 43% of the Canadian barley acreage and 46% of the barley acreage in western Canada.
‘AC Metcalfe’, a two-rowed malting barley variety is becoming popular and it could dethrone ‘Harrington’, a two-rowed malting barley that has dominated for many years. In the feed barley group ‘Seebe’ a two-rowed barley has gained popularity in Alberta as a forage type. Varieties such as ‘CDC Dolly’ (two-rowed) and ‘AC Lacombe’ (six-rowed) both feed barley varieties remain popular. ‘Falcon’ and ‘Peregrine’, both hulless six-rowed varieties, are popular in Alberta.
Breeding Program: In 2002, Field Crop Development Center (FCDC) of Alberta Agriculture, Food and Rural Development (AAFRD), released two new barley varieties, ‘Tyto’ and ‘Niobe’.
Tyto Barley: Tyto barley variety (Reg. No. 5496, PI 632403) was released in 2002, by FCDC. Tyto is a hulless, six-rowed, smooth-awned, semi-dwarf, spring-habit, feed barley. Tyto was derived from the cross of ‘Falcon’/’Samson’ that was made in 1989. Falcon (PI 59612) was released in 1993 and is a hulless, six-rowed, semi-dwarf, smooth-awned barley developed by the FCDC. Juvenile plants of Tyto have semi-prostrate growth habit. Tyto has strong straw and good resistance to lodging, and good grain yield, kernel weight, test-weight and biomass production. Tyto reaches physiological maturity in about 99 days
Tyto has field resistance to scald [Rhynchosporium secalis], moderate resistance to net-form of net blotch [Pyrenophora teres f. teres], and resistance to spot-form of net blotch [P. teres f. maculata]. Tyto has good resistance to covered smut [Ustilago hordei] and false loose smut [U. nigra or U. avenae], but is moderately susceptible to loose smut [U. nuda], and is susceptible to common root rot [Cochliobolus sativus]. Tyto has moderate resistance to stem rust [Puccinia graminis f. sp. tritici], spot blotch [C. sativus], and is resistant to septoria speckled leaf blotch [Septoria paserinii].
Niobe Barley Niobe is two-rowed, rough-awned spring barley (Reg. No. 5500, PI 632404). Niobe was selected from the cross ‘AC Oxbow’/‘CDC Guardian’. Niobe tends to outyield (+3.5%) CDC Dolly and it has better lodging resistance compared with CDC Dolly. Niobe is resistant to surface-borne smuts but moderately susceptible to true loose smut. Niobe is moderately resistant to the spot form of net blotch but moderately susceptible to the net form. Niobe has seedling resistance to scald; but as an adult plant, its reactions range from moderately resistant to susceptible depending upon races of scald. Niobe is moderately resistant to moderately susceptible to stem rust depending on the races of stem rust. Niobe is moderately susceptible to common root rot and spot blotch. Niobe is susceptible to fusarium head blight (Fusarium spp.) and septoria or speckled leaf blotch.
Government of Canada. 2003. List of varieties which are registered in Canada [Online]. Available at (verified Feb. 6, 2003).
The FCDC and CIMMYT (International Maize and Wheat Improvement Centre International)/ Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) continue to collaborate in developing disease resistant barley cultivars/lines. At FCDC, various backgrounds of disease resistance from genetically diverse lines have been incorporated into lines with superior lines with desirable agronomic traits that are adapted to Alberta conditions. The barley cultivars released by the FCDC through this program include Falcon, Tukwa, Seebe, Kasota, Mahigan, Peregrine, Niska, Vivar, Trochu and Tyto. The value of this germplasm is worth hundreds of millions of dollars to Alberta producers and the Alberta economy. There will be other benefits to the industry as various breeding programs access germplasm developed at FCDC and CIMMYT/ICARDA for both malting and feed barley purposes.
Smut resistance: FCDC continues to develop successful transfer of loose smut (U. nuda) resistance into six-row and two-row, hulless and hulled breeding lines. The lines developed also have a combination of high grain yield and very good scald resistance.
Fusarium Head Blight (FHB): In 2002 a range of breeding lines from the FCDC breeding program were evaluated for FHB resistance in Brandon, Manitoba; Toluca, Mexico and China. Some lines were found to have good levels of both Type 1 and Type 2 resistance to FHB and low DON levels.
Scald Resistance: In 2002, many barley lines were screened for scald resistance. Some new sources of resistance to scald were identified and added to our germplasm collections. These lines may have multiple genes for resistance to scald and other diseases.
Malting Quality: A number of two-rowed barley lines with good malting quality, good grain yield and good disease resistance were entered into the 2002 Western Cooperative Two-Row Barley Test. To assess peeling in two-rowed hulled barley, NIRS equations to predict peeling potential have been developed.
Pearled Barley: The pearling project aiming to investigate the possibilities of establishing suitable barley varieties for the Japanese food market was completed in 2002. Lines with good pearling properties were identified. The results indicate that two-rowed and hulled barley varieties could be the most suitable for pearling.
Biotechnology: In 2002, the Alberta Agriculture Field Crop Development Centre continued developing the Cereal Molecular Genetics Laboratory by adding a new genetic analyzer (gene sequencing) facility. The laboratory is growing in terms of adding new techniques that are helping barley breeders and plant pathologists to make informed selection decisions based on molecular markers for various selectable barley traits. Dr. Jennifer Zantinge, a molecular biologist, leads the research in biotechnology at the FCDC and in collaboration with cereal pathologist, Dr. K. Xi, she is currently using AFLP analysis to characterize molecular variability of several scald pathogen races. The biotechnology research at the FCDC focuses on the identification of cereal genes, molecular markers, and proteins that contribute to disease resistance, grain yield, cereal quality and other desirable agronomic traits.
Phytate-P study in Barley and other cereals: A wide range of common barley cultivars and advanced lines including low phytate-P lines, and advanced lines of other cereals were analysed for phytate-P and total P content, scanned by NIRS at Lacombe and some samples were analysed for High Inorganic Phosphate (HIP) using a modified Chen et al. (1956) protocol. The results will be analysed to identify cereal lines with low phytate-P and various techniques for measuring phytate-P content in barley lines will be compared.
Pre-Harvest Sprouting Resistance and Seed Dormancy in Barley : Pre-harvest sprouting resistance (PHSR) is the inability of viable kernels to germinate in intact spikes when subjected to favorable conditions of moisture, oxygen, and temperature. Seed dormancy (SD) is the failure of viable embryos to germinate when subjected to optimum conditions of moisture, oxygen, and temperature. Populations of hulless and hulled barley lines with variable sprouting resistance were developed from crosses with ‘Samson’ in the background. Samson is semi-dwarf six-row barley that has good sprouting resistance under wet-swath conditions. A population of 240 lines was developed from crossing TR118 and T89049007. Incorporation of PHSR or SD trait was made into the hulless germplasm and selection made using rain simulator tests and seed germinations in Petri dishes.
Other activities: Year 2002 was the 10th year of operation under the barley development agreement between Agriculture, and Agri-Food Canada (AAFC) Lacombe; Alberta Agriculture, Food and Rural Development (AAFRD) and through the AAFC, AAFRD-FCDC, Alberta Barley Commission barley agreement, other projects and activities in agronomy were conducted:
Agronomy work
1. Surveying barley diseases in Alberta.
2. Integration of cultural practices for sustainable weed management in direct seeding systems.
3. Impact of seeding rate and nitrogen placement and rate on stand density, silage and grain yield and quality of barley.
4. Integrated pest management systems evaluating effects of crop rotation, seeding rate and herbicide rates over time.
5. Impact of seeding rate and seeding depth on stand density, silage and grain yield of hulled and hulless barley.
6. Identifying barley traits that enhance competitiveness with weeds.
7. Agronomic assessment of barley grain yield and grain yield modeling.
8. Crop rotation study at Lacombe, Alberta.
9. Defining early season agronomic practices for hulless barley production.
10. The effect of tillage system and nitrogen rate on yield, quality, and disease development of barley.
11.Intergrating crop production principles for hulless and hulled barley.
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