Kansas Dual Purpose Pest Resistant White Wheats
Introduction.
Efforts by the Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station to develop hard white winter (HWW) wheat cultivars were initiated back in 1970 and were greatly accelerated in 1988. The KWC has always been involved in the support of those efforts. The Hays component of the Kansas wheat breeding program began to divert its breeding efforts to hard white winter wheats adapted for production in western Kansas in 1988. We have now completely converted the program to hard white germplasm. This proposal requests continued support for the development of hard white winter wheats adapted to western Kansas. Specific objectives follow.
1. HWW wheats will be developed that can be used in both the world bread and noodle markets. This should greatly increase the world market potential of Kansas wheat.
2. Preharvest sprouting tolerance will be incorporated into these new white cultivars. Although western Kansas has been targeted for hard white production because of its reduced rainfall, some sprouting tolerance will be required to divert disaster when rains come after the wheat is ripe but prior to harvest. White wheats have traditionally been very susceptible to preharvest sprouting. In 2005 we release Danby which has sprouting tolerance equal to the most popular wheat grown in Kansas, Jagger.
3. HWW varieties developed must be superior in overall performance (including yield and test weight) to the currently grown hard red winter varieties in western Kansas. This will be mandatory if producers are going to accept the new HWW varieties.
4. In order to improve the competitiveness of the HWW varieties developed, we will strive to incorporate host resistance to the major pest problems in western Kansas. This will include resistance to wheat streak mosaic virus, leaf rust, stripe rust, Hessian fly, and the Russian wheat aphid.
Rationale and Significance.
Hard white is preferred in the world markets. The large Asian noodle market prefers white wheat, assuming it meets the needs of their end users. Our current hard red wheats will not meet those needs and most of our current hard whites are not satisfactory in noodle production. Our own domestic flour milling and baking industry will eventually prefer hard white wheats due to the increased flour yields that can be obtained and the improved color of whole wheat products made from hard white wheat. Our goal is to develop hard white wheat varieties that will meet the needs of the Asian noodle market and those of the bread wheat market. If we are successful, it could greatly increase demand for Kansas wheat in the domestic and world marketplace. Profits of Kansas white wheat producers could increase as the result of both an increased demand and an increase in production efficiency from the new varieties that carry the improved pest resistance packages.
Our emphasis on control of major disease and insect damage through host resistance in new varieties has always been a major part of our program at Hays and will continue to be with the white wheats. We lose about 13 to 15% of our crop each year to diseases alone. With our efforts on pest control, further improvement in white wheat yield potential, and a decrease in the total effort on hard red wheat improvement, we should be able to develop hard white winter wheat varieties that will consistently give western Kansas wheat producers the best performance relative to hard red winter varieties.
The success of this project will eventually be measured not by the number of varieties developed, but by the amount of hard white winter wheat produced and the total increase in size of our wheat markets. I can not predict the total increase in market size that might occur with the production of these new hard white wheats. But, I know the potential increases in sales to the Asian noodle markets, if we continue to produce hard red winter wheat, is zero.
Procedures/Methodology.
Procedures currently used for the development and testing of new hard red winter wheats will be used for the hard whites. See KWC sponsored project titled Improvement of Hard Red Winter Wheat for Kansas. Standard milling and bread quality tests will be conducted on experimental hard whites. These tests are the same tests that we have used to evaluate hard red winter wheats for years. Noodle quality tests will include noodle color, poly-phenol oxidase, and starch pasting tests. We have been using these tests on our hard whites during the last 4 years. All of these important noodle characteristics can be combined with good bread making quality.
Procedures for the identification of new sources of pest resistance and incorporating that resistance into experimental lines have been developed and are already being used. This process was one of the primary goals of the old KWC sponsored project titled Genetic Development of Higher Disease Resistance and Grain Protein in New Wheat Varieties. Diseases and insects targeted by this proposal include wheat streak mosaic virus, leaf rust, stripe rust, Hessian fly, and the Russian wheat aphid.
Related Current/Previous Research.
The development of hard white winter wheat was initiated as early as 1970 in Kansas. In 1988 as the result of combined support from the KWC, Kansas Crop Improvement Assoc., and the Kansas Technical Enterprise Corporation our efforts were dramatically increased. The Hays component of the Kansas wheat improvement program has now converted all of its germplasm to hard white wheats. For a number of years we have provided germplasm to neighboring state (Oklahoma, Colorado, Nebraska, and South Dakota) breeding programs, which has aided them in initiating their own hard white programs.
As the result of our last 13 years of work on hard white wheats, we released Trego to seed producers in 1999. Trego currently has an excellent yield record on dryland in western Kansas over the last 5 years of testing and is our most popular white wheat. In 2000 we released Lakin. Lakin is the first hard white variety that will be able to compete with the Australian hard whites in terms of noodle production quality. Lakin is a good bread quality wheat but also produces excellent Asian noodles. However, we must continue to make improvements on sprouting tolerance thus in 2005 we released Danby which is equal to Jagger in sprouting tolerance. The yield of Danby has been outstanding and it carries improved resistance to stripe rust relative to that of Trego. In 2006 we are distributing foundation seed of RonL which is our first wheat streak mosaic virus resistant wheat variety.
Progress Report
During the second quarter we were able to complete the crossing in our first crossing block in the greenhouse. The F1 seed produced will be harvested soon so that it can be planted in January in the greenhouse in order to produce the F2 seed that will be harvested in June of 2008. We have also started screening for resistance to wheat streak mosaic virus in the growth chambers. This process will be slower than usual because Dallas (our plant pathologist) only has two functional growth chambers: one old chamber and one new chamber that the Wheat Commission provided funds to purchase last year. We are expecting an additional chamber to be delivered in late January.
Efforts by the Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station to develop hard white winter (HWW) wheat cultivars were initiated back in 1970 and were greatly accelerated in 1988. The KWC has always been involved in the support of those efforts. The Hays component of the Kansas wheat breeding program began to divert its breeding efforts to hard white winter wheats adapted for production in western Kansas in 1988. We have now completely converted the program to hard white germplasm. This proposal requests continued support for the development of hard white winter wheats adapted to western Kansas. Specific objectives follow.
1. HWW wheats will be developed that can be used in both the world bread and noodle markets. This should greatly increase the world market potential of Kansas wheat.
2. Preharvest sprouting tolerance will be incorporated into these new white cultivars. Although western Kansas has been targeted for hard white production because of its reduced rainfall, some sprouting tolerance will be required to divert disaster when rains come after the wheat is ripe but prior to harvest. White wheats have traditionally been very susceptible to preharvest sprouting. In 2005 we release Danby which has sprouting tolerance equal to the most popular wheat grown in Kansas, Jagger.
3. HWW varieties developed must be superior in overall performance (including yield and test weight) to the currently grown hard red winter varieties in western Kansas. This will be mandatory if producers are going to accept the new HWW varieties.
4. In order to improve the competitiveness of the HWW varieties developed, we will strive to incorporate host resistance to the major pest problems in western Kansas. This will include resistance to wheat streak mosaic virus, leaf rust, stripe rust, Hessian fly, and the Russian wheat aphid.
Rationale and Significance.
Hard white is preferred in the world markets. The large Asian noodle market prefers white wheat, assuming it meets the needs of their end users. Our current hard red wheats will not meet those needs and most of our current hard whites are not satisfactory in noodle production. Our own domestic flour milling and baking industry will eventually prefer hard white wheats due to the increased flour yields that can be obtained and the improved color of whole wheat products made from hard white wheat. Our goal is to develop hard white wheat varieties that will meet the needs of the Asian noodle market and those of the bread wheat market. If we are successful, it could greatly increase demand for Kansas wheat in the domestic and world marketplace. Profits of Kansas white wheat producers could increase as the result of both an increased demand and an increase in production efficiency from the new varieties that carry the improved pest resistance packages.
Our emphasis on control of major disease and insect damage through host resistance in new varieties has always been a major part of our program at Hays and will continue to be with the white wheats. We lose about 13 to 15% of our crop each year to diseases alone. With our efforts on pest control, further improvement in white wheat yield potential, and a decrease in the total effort on hard red wheat improvement, we should be able to develop hard white winter wheat varieties that will consistently give western Kansas wheat producers the best performance relative to hard red winter varieties.
The success of this project will eventually be measured not by the number of varieties developed, but by the amount of hard white winter wheat produced and the total increase in size of our wheat markets. I can not predict the total increase in market size that might occur with the production of these new hard white wheats. But, I know the potential increases in sales to the Asian noodle markets, if we continue to produce hard red winter wheat, is zero.
Procedures/Methodology.
Procedures currently used for the development and testing of new hard red winter wheats will be used for the hard whites. See KWC sponsored project titled Improvement of Hard Red Winter Wheat for Kansas. Standard milling and bread quality tests will be conducted on experimental hard whites. These tests are the same tests that we have used to evaluate hard red winter wheats for years. Noodle quality tests will include noodle color, poly-phenol oxidase, and starch pasting tests. We have been using these tests on our hard whites during the last 4 years. All of these important noodle characteristics can be combined with good bread making quality.
Procedures for the identification of new sources of pest resistance and incorporating that resistance into experimental lines have been developed and are already being used. This process was one of the primary goals of the old KWC sponsored project titled Genetic Development of Higher Disease Resistance and Grain Protein in New Wheat Varieties. Diseases and insects targeted by this proposal include wheat streak mosaic virus, leaf rust, stripe rust, Hessian fly, and the Russian wheat aphid.
Related Current/Previous Research.
The development of hard white winter wheat was initiated as early as 1970 in Kansas. In 1988 as the result of combined support from the KWC, Kansas Crop Improvement Assoc., and the Kansas Technical Enterprise Corporation our efforts were dramatically increased. The Hays component of the Kansas wheat improvement program has now converted all of its germplasm to hard white wheats. For a number of years we have provided germplasm to neighboring state (Oklahoma, Colorado, Nebraska, and South Dakota) breeding programs, which has aided them in initiating their own hard white programs.
As the result of our last 13 years of work on hard white wheats, we released Trego to seed producers in 1999. Trego currently has an excellent yield record on dryland in western Kansas over the last 5 years of testing and is our most popular white wheat. In 2000 we released Lakin. Lakin is the first hard white variety that will be able to compete with the Australian hard whites in terms of noodle production quality. Lakin is a good bread quality wheat but also produces excellent Asian noodles. However, we must continue to make improvements on sprouting tolerance thus in 2005 we released Danby which is equal to Jagger in sprouting tolerance. The yield of Danby has been outstanding and it carries improved resistance to stripe rust relative to that of Trego. In 2006 we are distributing foundation seed of RonL which is our first wheat streak mosaic virus resistant wheat variety.
Progress Report
During the second quarter we were able to complete the crossing in our first crossing block in the greenhouse. The F1 seed produced will be harvested soon so that it can be planted in January in the greenhouse in order to produce the F2 seed that will be harvested in June of 2008. We have also started screening for resistance to wheat streak mosaic virus in the growth chambers. This process will be slower than usual because Dallas (our plant pathologist) only has two functional growth chambers: one old chamber and one new chamber that the Wheat Commission provided funds to purchase last year. We are expecting an additional chamber to be delivered in late January.
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