Management for Maximum Economic Yield of Open Pollinated and Hybrid Canola
This research was initiated to determine whether higher yielding hybrid rapeseed (canola) varieties require a higher level of management to express higher yields, compared to older open pollinated canola varieities.
IPNI-1999-CAN-SK24
01 Mar 2000
1999 Annual Interpretive Summary
Management for Maximum Economic Yield of Open Pollinated and Hybrid Canola, 1999
Hybrid varieties of canola are new to farmers in western Canada, and there is a lack of understanding as to the level of management and inputs required to optimize production relative to established open pollinated varieties. Inputs that are seen as critical to optimizing yield include seeding rate (crop establishment), fertility level (N, P, K, and S), and fungicide use for control of white mold (Sclerotinia spp.). Research is currently being carried out at three locations in Saskatchewan to evaluate the response of new hybrid and open pollinated canola cultivars to various levels of these three inputs on crop yield, quality, and disease response.
In this initiation year, each of the project sites experienced above normal precipitation and below normal air temperatures, leading to excellent growing conditions for canola. Grain yields showed a positive response to increasing fertilizer rates, with the hybrid cultivar having a minor yield advantage to the open pollinated cultivar. The heavier crop canopy with increasing fertilizer application on the hybrid canola resulted in a higher incidence of white mold at one of the test locations. In general, where white mold infection was low there was no response to the application of a fungicide. However, at one location, maximizing grain yield response to increasing fertilizer application rates was achieved only with the use of a fungicide. Similarly, increasing seeding rate above the currently recommended level also improved the canola crop response to a higher fertilizer application rate. Continuation of this project will assist in developing recommendations for the management of high yielding canola, in particular those management inputs that are critical to improving crop response with increased fertilizer rates. SK-24