For the first year of testing, most crosses go down to Chile where DL Seeds produces in contra season. Once they It’s something every canola grower worries about: pod shatter. Whether it be from the weather or the swather, your canola pods are doomed to shatter at some point, or are they?
DL Seeds, our canola breeding partner, has been researching pod shatter for more than a few years now, with huge developments in creating hybrids with resistance to this phenomenon. Jesse Mutcheson, Pre-Breeder Seed and QAS Manager at DL Seeds, has been working on his Master’s degree while researching pod shatter.
He said their biggest leap so far has been getting their first commercial pod shatter tolerant hybrid into the market, which is BY 6217TF. BrettYoung has branded this trait as Pod DefendR®. This means you can expect a high-performing and dependable level of tolerance.
How DL Seeds Built Pod Shatter Tolerant Hybrids
DL Seeds began their research on pod shatter in 2016. Once they find unique traits or genes of interest, it takes multiple years to implement that trait into a parent. There are first multiple cycles of backcrossing to get the trait as stable as possible within each parent. After that, the first cross between two parents can be made to create an F1 hybrid.
“It’s not blindly picking two parents,” said Mutcheson. “You look at their trait packages on each side and make combinations on what you think would develop an industry-leading hybrid.”
For the first year of testing, most crosses go down to Chile where DL Seeds produces in contra season. Once they come back, DL Seeds starts growing them in their trials and that’s where evaluation starts.
How Pod Shatter Tolerance Is Evaluated
DL Seeds has two main tests for evaluating pod shatter resistance.
In-the-Field Wind Mimicking
- Simulated wind conditions: DL Seeds’ researchers use high-speed leaf blowers to mimic excess wind on plots for a set amount of time.
- Standardized rating system: Hybrids are rated on a scale from 1 to 9, where 1 indicates poor pod shatter tolerance and 9 represents the highest level of tolerance.
- Council scale alignment: Ratings follow a Canola Council of Canada scale, where a rating of eight sets the gold standard.
Random Impact Test
- Lab-based testing: During this test, DL Seeds collects pods off mature canola plants and uses an indoor random impact test machine featuring an oscillating shaker and ball bearings.
- Measurement of pod durability: The machine assesses how much impact it takes to shatter the pods.
- Quantitative score: A pod shatter reduction index is assigned to each hybrid for further analysis.
Mutcheson prefers to use the in-the-field test as it gives real data right there.
“Once we get the ratings in-house, we start comparing them to the other hybrids in that trial,” he said. “You can see where it lines up against the industry-leading hybrids, look backwards from there and start looking at other critical traits like yield performance, disease resistance and quality.”
What They’re Seeing in Recent Trials
In their most recent evaluations, DL Seeds had several hybrids scoring neck and neck with industry-leading shatter tolerant products. Mutcheson said it’s reassuring to get results like those and said they’ll be moving forward with the most promising hybrids.
“We know our pipeline coming up is looking very strong for shatter tolerance.” said Mutcheson. “It wasn’t just a one and done that we found something good. We want to ensure everyone that our pipeline is full of quality hybrids that are going to be in demand when released.”
FAQ
What is pod shatter and why is it a concern for canola growers?
Pod shatter is when canola pods break open unexpectedly, often caused by weather or mechanical disturbance. This can lead to loss of yield and crop quality so it is a major concern for growers.
How is DL Seeds addressing the issue of pod shatter?
DL Seeds has focused research on developing canola hybrids with improved pod shatter resistance including bringing the first commercial pod shatter tolerant hybrid, BY 6217TF, to the market.
What are the two main tests DL Seeds uses to evaluate pod shatter resistance?
DL Seeds uses an in-the-field wind mimicking test with high-speed leaf blowers to rate hybrids and a random impact indoor test with ball bearings to measure how much force it takes to shatter pods.
How does DL Seeds determine which hybrids to advance in their breeding program?
After gathering pod shatter ratings and comparing them to other hybrids, DL Seeds also considers critical traits like yield performance, disease resistance and quality before moving the most promising hybrids forward.
What recent developments has DL Seeds reported in pod shatter research?
DL Seeds has found that several of their hybrids are performing as well as industry-leading shatter tolerant products and they plan to continue advancing these strong hybrids in their research pipeline.
