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Background
and Objectives:
The Manitoba Crop Variety Evaluation Team (MCVET) is the group responsible for variety
testing and evaluation in Manitoba – from planning field
trials, to data analysis, to publication of results. The team consists of 11 members
representing the Manitoba Seed Growers, the Canadian Seed Trade, Manitoba Canola Growers,
Manitoba Pulse Growers, the University of Manitoba, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, and
Manitoba Agriculture and Food.
The publication Seed Manitoba pulls together information on crop varieties and
through the MCVET trials assembles relative yield performance data. This provides farmers
with a third party source of variety information and performance data. Data for Seed
Manitoba is obtained from a number of sites positioned around the province.
Funding for the program comes from a number of different sources. The major
contributors are Manitoba Agriculture and Food, Agri-Food Research and Development
Initiative (ARDI), individual seed companies, grower organizations and individual seed
growers.
The objectives of this project were to expand and enhance the field crop variety testing program in Manitoba by:
- Increasing the number of testing sites.
- Increasing the number of crop kinds tested.
- Increasing the number of station years of testing for individual varieties.
- Increasing the information recorded from the trials.
- Develop a computer variety selection program for farmers to use.
Procedure and Project Activities:
An additional satellite site was established in Treherne. Additional trials were
established along with private seed firm testing programs at Rosebank, Neepawa, Ste.
Agathe and Transcona. Data was obtained from these trials and incorporated into the
established database. The crop kinds under test were expanded to include triticale, winter
wheat and fall rye. The level of testing of the smaller acreage field crops including
buckwheat, canary seed, fababeans and mustard was expanded. Testing was expanded to
include older high acreage varieties to allow producers to be able to compare newer
varieties to the ones they may still be growing.
Currently, due to funding constraints, canola and peas are tested only for 2 years
while all other crops are tested until they accumulate 25 station years of data per
variety. There was a review and evaluation of the database with the intent of upgrading
the format and ease of access. An updated and refined computer variety selection program
that can be used by producers in making crop variety decisions was created. It is intended
that this program should be available in December of each year along with the publication
of Seed Manitoba.
Results and Discussion:
The initial infusion of ARDI money in 1998 allowed for a number of changes to be made
to the program. It allowed the program to expand to 16 testing sites from the 11 sites
that were run in 1997. Over 80 new varieties were tested for the first time, which was up
from the 49 new varieties that had been tested in 1997. In addition to yield evaluations
on these new varieties, the ARDI funding allowed us to continue to record other agronomic
factors such as lodging percent, protein, days to maturity, etc.
In 1998, the weather played a big factor in the testing program. The sites on the east
side of the province started off very wet and seeding was somewhat delayed while the
western sites were very dry. Then in June, we experienced a heavy frost followed by
extremely wet conditions in the western side of the province while the eastern sites
returned to more normal moisture conditions. Unfortunately, the weather did cause us to
lose several trials. However, the expanded number of sites was able to more than offset
the loss.
New for 1998 were the sites for Treherne, Rosebank, Neepawa, St. Agathe, Transcona and
Stonewall (which replaced Selkirk). The continuing sites were Boissevain, Melita, Hamiota,
Dauphin, Thornhill, Portage la Prairie, Morris and Arborg.
1999 saw several more changes made to Manitoba’s variety testing program. New
testing sites were added while the location of some others were shifted. Canola, flax,
lentils and triticale were tested at more sites than in past years while the number of
locations for fababeans and winter wheat were reduced. In total, there were 117 new
varieties in test this year, up from the 80 new ones that appeared for the first time in Seed
Manitoba 1999.
1999 was very trying and a highly variable year weather wise. Unlike most years, the
eastern side of the province was fairly dry early in the spring and seeding got off to an
early start. However, the western side was extremely wet and seeding was delayed in many
areas, well into June. The weather conditions also led to heavy disease pressure on much
of the late seeded crop plus the loss of a number of trials.
New for 1999 were the canola tests at Somerset and Brandon, and the multi crop site at
Grosse Isle, which replaced Stonewall. The continuing sites were at Arborg, Boissevain,
Brandon, Dauphin, Hamiota, Melita, Morden, Morris, Neepawa, Portage la Prairie, Rosebank,
Ste. Adolphe, Thornhill, Transcona and Treherne.
The year 2000 proved to be difficult for Manitoba’s variety testing program. Due
to adverse weather conditions, trials at a number of sites were lost. However, in spite of
the weather, a new canola site was added and we were able to increase the number of trials
run on buckwheat. In total, there were 122 new varieties in test in 2000, up from the 117
new ones that were tested for the first time in 1999.
Many parts of the province experienced less than ideal growing conditions in 2000.
Growers were faced with cool wet soils in the spring, high disease pressure in June and
July, and heavy straw growth resulting in lodging problems. However, in spite of the
weather, we were able to obtain good data from most of our sites.
New in 2000 was the canola site at Highbluff. The continuing sites were at Arborg,
Boissevain, Brandon, Dauphin, Hamiota, Morden, Morris, Neepawa, Portage la Prairie,
Rosebank, Somerset, St. Adolph, Stonewall, Thornhill, Transcona and Treherne.
The wide dissemination of the trial results from this project have given
Manitoba’s farmers a valuable tool to use in selecting the most appropriate varieties
for their farms.
Acknowledgment:
MCVET would like to acknowledge that this project was made possible due to funding
from the Governments of Manitoba and Canada through the Canada-Manitoba Agri-Food Research
and Development Initiative (ARDI).
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