OSR variety Trinity hits the market
An oilseed rape variety called Trinity has been launched which is set to compete with the leading conventional varieties, offering higher yield potential and improved disease resistance.
The open-pollinated variety offers the highest yield of any conventional variety on the HGCA Recommended List, with a gross output of 105%, and will be available to growers on the 20 May,
Elsoms oilseeds rape plant breeder Mark Nightingale says higher yields are not the only positive, highlighting a good disease resistance to stem canker (7) and light leaf spot (6).
“The agronomic factors are very strong in Trinity. It has a real winter hardiness, and has shown in trials [to have] very little winter damage.
“Plant height is another factor which is seen by many as increasingly important for a quick harvest and to reduce lodging risk. Compared with OP varieties it is very short at 144cm and has good standing power, which is important in seasons like the one we have just seen,” he says.
With UK stem canker losses exceeding £150m a season, growers in the east and west HGCA regions could see the greatest benefits, with the diseases being particularly troublesome in these regions.
Mr Nightingale highlights that Trinity has also shown resistance to verticillium wilt. Dr Peter Gladders of ADAS suggests this disease may become a problem in the future.
Adrian Hayler, the agricultural seed sales manager at Elsoms believes that Trinity provides growers with a real step forward in variety performance.
“The robust agronomic and disease resistance profile the excellent vigour in the autumn and early spring and can be a real benefit to UK farmers,” he says.
Vic Barker who farms 200ha (500 acres) between Bourne and Spalding, has been growing the Trinity variety and has been extremely happy with its overall performance so far.
“Obviously, you never know how it will do until you get the combine out, but in a tough season it’s looking very good at the moment and I’d happily grow it again,” he says.
Agrii along with Openfield and Frontier will be distributing Trinity in its first year, and Agrii’s arable seed manager Barry Barker believes the variety is set for a promising future.
“Trinity stands out as one of the best candidates on the east to west [Recommended List] list because of its all-round package. It’s got a very competitive gross output but you are not sacrificing some of the agronomic strengths.”
Mr Barker says that, although the seed is only a candidate for now, based on the current figures, the variety looks likely to get on the Recommended List and, if it does, it could be successful.
Trinity Oilseed Rape is one of the first commercial varieties to emerge from the SWO Rape breeding programme, which was established through the co-operation of three leading independent businesses in Sweden, France and England.
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