Ordinary oilseed best?

30 April 1999

Ordinary oilseed best?

NON-HYBRID oilseed rape variety Escort could be more profitable than hybrid types given the lower price for oilseeds, says breeder Nickerson.

In ARC trials Escort outyielded hybrids Pronto and Synergy, and in NIAB recommended list trials Escort yield is equivalent to the hybrid varieties, claims the company.

Seed will be sold in 4ha (10-acre) packs at £160 a pack saving £20/ha (£8/acre) on the recommended price for Pronto, notes Nickersons Frank Curtis. With oilseed rape at £120/t, the seed cost is equivalent to an extra 0.7t/ha (1 cwt/acre) yield, he calculates.

"On a 4t/ha crop, the hybrids would have to outyield Escort by over 4% to recoup that. Plus Escort has superior disease resistance," he says.