Wheat breeding team tops trials

The plant breeding team at Nickerson are enjoying the results of their labours this autumn, with many of their newest varieties outperforming all other wheats in three out of the four NABIM marketing groups.

"Eighty per cent of the UK wheat acreage is made up of varieties from Groups 2,3 or 4 and we have now bred some of the best wheats within each of these groups," says Nickerson marketing director Frank Curtis. "This year's results are not a one-off – our varieties have performed consistently well over the past five years – in both NIAB and ARC trials, in our own trials here and on the continent, and on farms across the UK."

Einstein was the highest yielding Group 2 breadmaking wheat in Recommended List trials this year, and has set a new standard for varieties in this group. It also produces high Hagberg falling numbers and specific weights combined with excellent milling properties. It also has good all-round disease resistance – a characteristic common to Nickerson-bred varieties.

Deben has performed particularly well as a second wheat and was the highest yielding Group 3 variety in Recommended List trials, closely followed by Nickerson newcomer Nijinsky. Selected from the cross Claire x Consort, Nijinsky derives its very good disease resistance profile from Claire – with particularly good resistances to Septoria spp. and all known races of yellow rust. It also has improved resistance to mildew compared to Claire. From Consort, Nijinsky gets its high rating for standing power and its short, stiff straw.

Istabraq is Nickerson's new soft milling feed wheat – it has far exceeded the yield performance of any other Group 4 varieties this year and is likely to be the highest yielding wheat variety on the 2004 Recommended List. It yielded more than 3% higher than traditional Group 4 varieties such as Tanker and Access.

Mr Curtis concluded, "Einstein is a significant breakthrough in wheat breeding – offering the dream combination of high yield with bread making quality. We can see this quickly becoming market leader in the UK. With Nijinsky we have crossed the best with the best and produced a variety that is better than either its parents or anything else currently available in Group 3. And in Group 4, Istabraq has produced phenomenal yields this year across the country, way above any of the current most widely-grown varieties.

Our breeding team has worked incredibly hard to produce such a strong portfolio of wheat varieties, which yield consistently well, yet produce grain of the specific qualities demanded by different end-users. At the same time they have managed to retain the high degree of disease resistance, which is the trademark of Nickerson varieties."