Print This Page2009 National Variety Trial (NVT) results confirm Roundup Ready out performs triazine tolerant varieties
On Friday 22 January; The GRDC released the 2009 National Variety Trial results from 15 herbicide tolerant canola sites across Australia. Eleven of the 15 trials were reported, 4 in Victoria, 4 in New South Wales and 3 in Western Australia. Four trial sites were unable to be reported as they weren’t harvested or trial variability was too high.
GRDC said the trial results provide growers with excellent information on canola varieties and herbicide tolerant systems; however growers should consider all information available to them from agronomists, seed companies, neighbours, farming groups and other research agencies before selecting a variety to grow on their own properties.
For an analysis between the available canola systems the most statistically valid comparison utilizes the maximum number of data points available. For the NVT data set, the maximum number of data points that can be analyzed is governed by the number of varieties included in each system in the trials. As there were only 6 Clearfield varieties in the trials, the top 6 varieties from each herbicide tolerant system were selected for comparison to eliminate statistical bias.
The top six yielding varieties from each herbicide system are compared in Table 1. The NVT results showed that the Roundup Ready varieties yielded 2.08 t/ha from the 11 sites compared to the Clearfield® varieties at 1.97 t/ha and the triazine tolerant varieties at 1.87 t/ha. Roundup Ready varieties were 11% higher yielding than the triazine tolerant varieties. This is consistent with grower experiences over the 2008 and 2009 seasons.
Dr James Neilsen, Monsanto Canola Systems Specialist said the National Variety Trials are an important factor for growers to refer to before they make their final decision regarding variety selection.
“These trials are an independent source of information that allows growers and agronomists to determine what varieties are best suited to their regions. These results clearly show that the Roundup Ready canola system offers growers higher yields in addition to superior weed control.”
Table 1. Summary of NVT Canola Herbicide Tolerance Trials 2009.
