ON HYBRID WHEATS

Press, Volume CXIII, Issue 33408, 14 December 1973, Page 7

ON HYBRID WHEATS

Hybrid wheat varieties could provide a means of countering diseases like rust, Mr A. J. Th. Hendriksen, a director of the Dutch plant breeding and seed producing firm, D. J. van der Have Company, said in Christchurch this week.

Mr Hendriksen, who is in charge of research and

development for his company, was in the city for the launching of a joint company with Pyne, Gould, Guinness Ltd, of Christchurch, and W. Weibull AB of Sweden. Dr F. Fajersson, who is a director of Weibulls and director of its plant breeding institute, also agreed that disease considerations represented a big argument in favour of the hybrids. Mr Hendriksen said that whereas a conventional variety could be bred with resistance to a disease, new races of a disease like rust could break down its resistance, but in the case of hybrids the association of a new male with the same female could lead to a much quicker change in variety, and by continuing to make such changes he said it might be possible to keep ahead of a disease breaking down the resistance. But hybrids may not necessarily be the wheat and barley varieties of the future. Mr Hendriksen said that although they gave a higher yield it had to be at least 20 per cent higher to be economic, and Dr Fajersson said that in his view the advantage for the hybrid had to be about 15 per cent. As well as the higher price of seed, Mr Hendriksen said that there was another obstacle in the way of hybrids where farmers used their own seed. With hybrids this would not be possible. However, seed production problems with hybrids had been less than had been expected. While the cost of seed would be higher, Dr Fajersson said it would have nevertheless have to be at a level where it would be economic for farmers to grow it. Mr Hendriksen said that all the time that hybrids were being developed con-

ventional varieties would also be advancing. He said it would probably be about 10 years before his company released hybrid wheats and barley. Dr Fajersson would not be as specific as this. He said it was a long-term project and the first hybrid produced was not likely to be released in that it was unlikely to have the 30 odd characteristics desirable in a wheat. The Weibull organisation is associated with DeKalb, of the United States, and also French interests in a hybrid wheat project and has been working on this since about 1965. Dr Fajersson is the breeder of three spring wheats, of which seed will be sent to Russia in January. Spring wheats bred by the Weibull organisation now constitute 98 per cent of the crop in Sweden and their varieties occupy 94 per cent of the winter wheat, 70 per cent of the barley and about half of the oats, and 25 to 30 per cent of the barley in France. van der Haves have field trials of their plant breeding material in some 30 countries, according to Mr Hendriksen, and an interesting recent development has been the completion of a contract to supply 15,000 tons of wheat seed and 5000 tons of barley to Iran annually. In a company in which they are associated in that country the brother of the Shah is president and a major shareholder. In 1964 Mr Hendriksen was one of the first foreigners to enter Inner Mongolia when he visited China at the invitation of the Government to visit that area and Manchuria to look into the production of sugar beet.