REGULAR ARTICLE
Agronomic practices for durum wheat in an area new to the crop
Mohammed S. Miyan, Alfredo Impiglia, Wal K. Anderson
Commun. Biometry Crop Sci. (2011) 6 (2), 64-79.
ABSTRACT
Despite apparent climatic and edaphic similarities with traditional growing areas in the Mediterranean basin, durum wheat has not been grown extensively as a commercial crop in Western Australia. The principal objective of this study was to develop some effective agronomic management practices as one of the first steps in introducing durum wheat cultivation into Western Australia and to compare the responses to those found in more traditional areas in the world where durum is successfully grown. Twenty-seven experiments were conducted in 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2001 in the northern, central, and southern wheat belt of Western Australia using treatments which included: two durum wheat cultivars (Triticum turgidum L. subsp. durum (Desf.) Husn.) and two bread wheat cultivars (T. aestivum L.); 3 sowing times; 5 nitrogen (N) rates and; 5 seeding rates. The experiments were conducted on a range of soil types and the seasonal rainfall ranged from 70 to 347 mm. The average yield advantage for bread wheat cultivars over durum wheat cultivars was 13 – 19% depending on site and season. The average grain protein percentage for durum cultivars was between 0.8 and 1.5% greater than for the bread wheat cultivars. Overall, it was concluded that durum wheat could be grown successfully in Western Australia using the practices resulting from the experiments described in this paper but that the long term success of the crop will depend on reducing the yield gap between bread wheat and durum wheat and on the continued quality and price advantage for durum wheat
Key Words: wheat; plant population; sowing time; soil type; crop rotation; protein content.
