Crossing PNW wheats with drought tolerant germplasm

Crossing PNW wheats with drought tolerant germplasm

Farm and Ranch February 2, 2009 Research at Washington State University is evaluating drought tolerant germplasm after it has been crossed with PNW wheats. It’s one of the projects of Scott Hulbert, the Cook Endowed Chair in Cropping Systems Pathology at WSU. Hulbert says they have gathered germplasm from around the world from wheats like Dhawar Dry, Drysdale and Reese. Hulbert: “CIMMYT international programs, and Australia and also the High Plains like Colorado program are really focused on drought because their winter wheat growing environment there is really dry also. So we are trading germplasm. We are crossing their germplasm to our adapted varieties, the varieties we are growing because you can‘t really evaluate a lot of this stuff directly because it is not adapted here.. You grow it in the field to see if it is drought resistant it looks like crap and it is just not adapted. It doesn‘t like the temperature. It doesn‘t like the soil. So we really have to cross that stuff to our wheat varieties. Look at the segregating families that come out of that to see what they have to contribute for drought resistance.” Pacific Northwest wheats being using in the project are Louise, Hollis Xerpha and Bauermeister. Hulbert’s project has also crossed Alpowa with Xerpha to make a facultative population that will be evaluated in both late fall and spring plantings. I’m Bob Hoff and that’s the Northwest Farm and Ranch Report on the Northwest Ag Information Network.

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