19 May 2022, UK: Four new cereal varieties, the importance of resilient varieties in uncertain times, and a focus on rooting to access soil nutrients in the wake of high fertiliser prices.
Those are key topics on the Syngenta stand at this year’s Cereals Event (8 and 9 June 2022, Chrishall Grange, Duxford, Cambridgeshire SG8 7NT). Syngenta will also be serving a limited amount of free beer on the stand, brewed from its leading spring barley variety, Laureate.
“New varieties hold obvious appeal at the event,” says Syngenta UK head of field crop seeds, James Taylor-Alford. “In line with this, we have four on the stand this year – a new candidate winter wheat, two new hybrid barleys and a candidate spring barley. However, agriculture also faces uncertainty with high fertiliser prices, unpredictable weather and food security. So we will also be looking at these issues to help growers plan for next season.”
As farmers look to use fertiliser more efficiently by improving crop rooting as a way of helping cereals gain better access to soil nutrients, Mr Taylor-Alford says a special rooting zone on the stand will examine the benefits of the fungicide seed treatment Vibrance Duo – which has been shown to boost root growth on average across 40 trials by 32% versus a standard fungicide seed dressing.
The rooting zone will also examine the vigorous root growth of hybrid barley and of the winter wheat variety, SY Insitor, which is now also being researched for its rooting, and the combined effects of Vibrance Duo plus vigorous-rooting varieties, he adds.
“With concerns around food security and unpredictable weather, we will also be offering guidance to growers about trying new varieties versus continuing to grow established varieties that have delivered resilient and reliable performance over multiple seasons, as another way of managing risk.”
Highlighting the four new cereal varieties on the Syngenta stand, Mr Taylor-Alford provides the following insights:
New winter feed wheat – SY Coach
A new hard group 4 winter feed wheat, which is currently a Recommended List (RL) candidate, SY Coach follows in the footsteps of proven varieties such as Graham and Gleam, says Mr Taylor-Alford, offering high yield plus an easy-to-manage agronomic package, and has the benefit of orange wheat blossom midge resistance.
New winter feed hybrid barleys – SY Canyon and SY Javelin
A new addition to the winter barley RL for 2022/23, SY Canyon offers high yield, very high grain quality in terms of specific weight and a strong disease resistance profile, says Mr Taylor-Alford, while newcomer SY Javelin offers high yield, outstanding Rhynchosporium resistance and is early to mature.
New candidate spring barley – SY Tennyson
Continuing Syngenta’s track record of bringing new spring barley varieties to the market, SY Tennyson is a new RL candidate variety, with malting potential.
Full list of varieties on the Syngenta Cereals Event stand
Winter feed wheat
Winter hybrid barley
Winter malting barley
Spring barley
Graham Gleam SY Insitor SY Coach*
Belmont Bazooka SY Thunderbolt SY Kingsbarn SY Armadillo SY Kingston SY Canyon* SY Javelin*
Electrum Craft SY Vessel
Laureate Fairing SY Tungsten SY Splendor SY Tennyson*
