alchemy
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Husbandry Guidelines Nickerson (UK) Ltd, Rothwell, Market Rasen, Lincolnshire, LN7 6DT Tel: 01472 371471 Fax: 01472 371386 Web Site: www.nickerson.co.uk/alchemy.html E-mail: enquiries@nickerson.co.uk Whilst every care is taken to produce reliable and accurate guidelines, no liability can be accepted for any use made of this information.

WINTER WHEAT FIELDS 0/GOLD Alchemy sets new standards in NABIM Group 4, just as varieties such as Xi19 (Group 1), Einstein (Group 2) and Claire (Group 3) have in their respective NABIM groups. Alchemy could be described as the first "quality feed wheat" - combining very high yield potential with excellent agronomic traits as well as providing growers with access to a range of end use markets. ALCHEMY -ALCHEMY - Pedigree and Selection Mechanism ALCHEMY ALCHEMY ALCHEMY ALCHEMY ALCHEMY ALCHEMY INTRODUCTION Alchemy winter wheat was added to the HGCA Recommended List for 2006-7 in November 2005....

ALCHEMY - ITS POSITION IN THE MARKET The UK is climatically well placed to grow soft milling varieties - indeed it has acquired a well deserved reputation for consistency in this market. Since the advent of such outstanding Alchemy has also been added to the Scottish Agricultural Colleges (SAC) Recommended List for 2006. Following laboratory testing, Alchemy has been given a rating for distilling of 'Medium Good' - the best achievable prior to commercial evaluation. This market currently demands approximately 600,000 tonnes of wheat per year. Table 2 indicates the alcohol yields tests...

ALCHEMY - PEDIGREE AND SELECTION MECHANISM Pedigree: Alchemy = Claire x (Consort x Woodstock) This cross was designed to enhance the disease profile of the soft milling group of wheats. There are often surprises in plant breeding and Alchemy supplies one. As individual varieties, Consort and Woodstock, which were crossed together, have only moderate disease resistance. However when combined with Claire the resistance of the selected line (Alchemy) shows an improvement over all the parents used. This is the effect of multiple resistance genes working together. Nickerson place a great deal of...

Resistance to Wheat Orange Blossom Midge Wheat orange blossom midge (WOBM) has become a major pest over the last four years (2002-5 inclusive). Differences in resistance have been identified in a range of varieties (www.defra.gov.uk/science/default.htm). Alchemy has been assessed for resistance under high pressure situations. ALCHEMY - YIELD POTENTIAL Alchemy has been tested in Nickerson trials over a six year period (2000-2005). As such there is a robust database from which to ascertain the variety's yield potential. Table 6 gives the yield of Alchemy over this period. As in previous...

Table 8: Alchemy - yields from Scottish grown sites 2005 First wheat sites Second wheat sites Aberdeen Moray Perth Mean East Lothian Borders Mean Alchemy 110 102 104 105 105 102 104 ALCHEMY - ITS PLACE IN THE ROTATION HGCA Recommended List trials test varieties under a wide range of environments. Alchemy has been recommended for all regions for its potential as a high yielding soft milling variety with a range of end use options. The Scottish market is one to which Alchemy seems well suited, as it produces high yields of soft milling grain potentially suitable for...

ALCHEMY - AGRONOMIC CHARACTERISTICS Late Drilling Second / Continuous Wheats It is unlikely that Alchemy will prove to be the best choice for later drilling. There are well established varieties which will fill this particular rotational need. Feed wheat Istabraq has produced excellent yields from this rotational position. If premiums are sought then there are a wide range of breadmaking varieties available including Xi19 and Einstein, as well as spring wheats. The current HGCA trial system is now very effective at identifying varieties with potential for the second / continuous wheat place...

ALCHEMY - RESPONSE TO FUNGICIDE In first wheat situations a single purpose treatment should be applied as routine as even healthy looking grains can harbour disease in high-risk years. For early sown crops the application of a broad spectrum seed dressing should be considered. This type of dressing is likely to improve early vigour, enhance disease protection and improve standing power. There are a wide range of seed treatments available and growers should seek advice as to the most appropriate product for their situation. In second wheat or continuous wheat situations or where take-all is...

Yields and gross margins from these treatments are provided in chart 2 Fungicide treatments and costings for harvest 2005 are given in table 13 and yields and gross margins provided in chart 3 Table 13: Variety fungicide trial HO5 Costings derived from mean of 6 sources Of particular note are treatments 1 and 2 in both years. Treatment 1 involves no fungicide applications - completely untreated. In contrast treatment 2 is the HGCA Recommended List fungicide protocol. This programme has been designed to reduce any disease threat and this explains the high cost incurred. However this protocol...

Of interest throughout the trial was the value that was derived from the inclusion of chlorthalonil (Bravo) as a routine application. This may seem surprising for a variety with such a robust rating for Septoria tritici (7). However, disease management is about managing the interaction between genetic resistance and chemical control. The resistance of Alchemy to Septoria tritici is very good but the variety is not totally immune. It is apparent that the high levels of resistance are complemented by the use of chlorthalonil based products. The relationship between genetic resistance and...