As always there were plenty of up and coming varieties to see at the ‘Cereals’ show in the UK last week. Rafaela at the Limagrain stand was an eye-catching one, due largely to its ‘BYDV tolerance’.
Rafaela
The six-row conventional winter barley variety offers tolerance for both barley yellow dwarf virus (BYDV) and barley yellow mosaic virus (BaYMV).
According to Limagrain, the high-tillering variety has early spring development, a large plant canopy and tall straw. Its competitive nature may also help to fight against black-grass and weeds in general.
Syngenta had seven new varieties on display at the show. Two spring barley varieties stood out for AgriLand – SY Splendor and SY Tungsten. The pair have been selected as potential malting varieties on the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB) candidate list.
SY Splendor
SY Splendor is an early-maturing variety with good brewing potential. It rates well for KPH and while the straw is strong, it is also short – one thing that might not suit the Irish market.
SY Tungsten
Tungsten has RGT Planet in its parentage and so it is no surprise that it looks promising on yield potential. According to Syngenta, the variety has excellent brewing quality, as well as carrying the mildew resistance gene.
RGT Saki
On the RAGT stand, RGT Gravity and RGT Saki were among some of the most recent winter wheat varieties. RGT Saki rates well for yield and grain quality.
KWS Kinetic
KWS Kinetic is one of the candidates for the AHDB winter wheat list.
The variety has yielded well in the UK so far and has a relative yield of 105 (treated). It has a disease resistance rating of six for Septoria, yellow and brown rust and mildew.
