In Australia, oat breeding has led to the development of oat varieties for the 3 main climatic regions of this continent. These three climatic regions or zones also exist in the state of NSW. These three regions are as follows: The sub-tropical zone, referred to throughout this book as the summer rainfall zone, also occurs on the coastal areas of Southern Queensland and Northern NSW. The uniform rainfall zone approximates the inland area of NSW from as north as Coonabarabran/Dubbo to West Wyalong/Temora in southern NSW. The winter rainfall climate occurs south of West Wyalong/Temora and includes the Australian states of Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia and Western Australia. An inventory of oat cultivars and their pedigrees is presented in relation to the above climatic regions in which oats are grown in Australia. The inventory tables list the name or accessional line of the oats, their pedigrees and breeder. A description of the Australian oat ideotype is also proposed.
Introduction
The objectives of oat breeding in Australia have varied depending on the climate, and the needs of farmers and customers in the regions in which they are grown. The flexibility of the oat plant for grazing as well as for hay and grain production has been an important means of increasing farm profitability.
It is important for the understanding of the material presented in this chapter, and the subsequent chapters, that there are three major climatic regions in Australia for the breeding of oats. These are introduced in the following sections and the oat breeders who have developed oat varieties in each of these climatic regions are included.
An inventory of oat cultivars, lines and crossbreds is presented and arbitrarily grouped into the three broad rainfall patterns that occur in Australia. Identification numbers are given for each cultivar and crossbred and these appear in brackets when referenced in the text of this chapter. Where available, the names of the varieties are provided and the breeders.
Defining objectives in Australian oat breeding
The breeding of specialised oats for grain
Western Australia and South Australia have reliable winter rainfall climates which enable oat breeders to select oat varieties for high yield of both grain and hay for export.
The cultivar Mortlock (208) from West Australia possesses grains with excellent milling quality and could therefore be useful for crossing with the Glen Innes cultivars.
Vertigan (1979) described his varieties Esk and Nile as high yielding and suitable for Tasmania, although one of the parents is the frost susceptible West Australian oat, Avon. Apart from Tasmania, the winter rainfall zone of Southern Australia has concentrated mainly on the production of grain only oats. These are not therefore exhaustively dealt with here.
Andrew Barr, a prolific plant breeder at Adelaide (South Australia), has created Echidna (206), a dwarf oat, less suitable for milling, as well as a more recent release, Bandicoot, a naked oat (A. sativa var nuda) with a view to human food, pig and poultry formulations (Farrell et al. 1992) and possible value for racehorses (Valentine and Clothier, 1992). Barr has also bred Potaroo for Cereal Cyst Nematode resistance and tolerance. This is a significant disease in South Australia and Victoria. Potaroo, however, is a dwarf feed grain oat to replace Echidna. Potaroo is not expected to be a suitable dual-purpose oat for grazing and grain (see following sub-section), even though its disease resistance comes from New Zealand Cape and a wild oat (Avena sterilis).
The breeding of dual purpose oat varieties
The flexibility of the oat plant for grazing as well as for hay and grain production has been an important means of increasing farm profitability.
The initial breeding and testing work in this field of dual-purpose oats was carried out by the NSW Department of Agriculture. This work started in 1921, and was mostly conducted at Glen Innes, NSW. Glen Innes, at an elevation of 1,128 m. and latitude 29°42’S, is central to, and representative of, the New England Tablelands of NSW. It has a cool, temperate climate with a higher incidence of summer than of winter rainfall and is the best natural environment for the testing of oat stem rust (Puccinia graminis var. avenae) in Australia. The Glen Innes Research Station is also close to the Grafton Research Station, which is naturally and regularly visited by oat crown rust (Puccinia coronata). It is also close to the warmer climates of Inverell, Tamworth, Gunnedah and Narrabri, each providing progressively warmer climates as one travels westwards and into areas of lower elevation. Glen Innes is also close to the fertile Darling Downs region of Southern Queensland.
A trial by Dwyer (1934) at Bathurst on the Central Tablelands showed that early sown oats, grazed twice, yielded an average of 6% more grain than ungrazed oats sown at the normal time for grain production (Table 2.1). This research showed that grain yields following pasture can actually exceed grain only yields. After World War II most trials have been lenient grazing until about 1960, when the Author began conducting heavy grazing trials. Vrome, a later maturing and frost resistant variety, demonstrated an excellent response to grazing (Dwyer, 1934). However, two grazings represent what is here defined as lenient grazing. Heavy grazing, involving four grazings and usually a February, or early March sowing, is now required to obtain maximum production from the oat crop and to test a new variety.
Table 2.1 Effect of grazing oats twice, versus no grazing, on grain yield of various cultivarsa.
Cultivar |
A (sown May) grain |
B (sown early March) grain after two |
B/A (%) |
Algerian 3063 |
3,095 |
3,266 |
105.5 |
a Dwyer (1934) at Bathurst, a cool climate. The area of the grain samples harvested could not be located. The Author has therefore calculated the average increase in grain yield as a result of 2 lenient grazings (sown in early March) as approximately 6%. However, the frost resistant variety, Vrome, increased its grain yield by 25%, as a result of the 2 lenient grazings. Subsequent trials, especially at Glen Innes and Tamworth, demonstrate that an important principle of oat plant breeding is here involved and can be utilised by the breeder.
An objection to the use of grazing oats to supplement pasture production in the winter rainfall areas has been made (Craig and Potter, 1983). In their experiment, they refer to stands of subterranean clover and ryegrass seedlings of 3,500 – 4,000 plants/m2, in comparison to only 230 oat plants/m2. Craig and Potter (1983) do admit, however, that (A) such plant density differences are not comparable, (B) the late May sowing is too late for establishment of the oat crop and (C) they suggest that earlier or even dry sowing of oats might be better. Here it should be stressed, however, that the oats provided some grazing and much grain, over 3 tonnes per ha in the case of Carbeen.
Breeding a triple-purpose oat
The triple purpose capacity, a concept used here for the first time, is the ability of an oat crop to produce grain after grazing as well as being able to produce grain only. A crop can be considered triple-purpose if it can be grazed and then harvested for grain or grown for grain only.
In Finland where only specialised grain oats are being bred, because of the marginal climate, attention to strong vegetative growth, crop architecture and source-sink relations is considered extremely important (Peltonen-Sainio 1992). The old linkage between early prostrate habit of growth and weak straw no longer applies to the new range of oat cultivars bred in northern NSW.
In a grain only trial3, under irrigation, the dual-purpose cultivar bred in northern NSW, Blackbutt, yielded over 5 tonnes per ha in the Riverina area at Coleambally. Blackbutt outyielded all the specialised “grain only” oat varieties from West Australia, South Australia and Victoria. This triple purpose capacity was displayed by Blackbutt, due to its strong straw or general resistance to lodging, derived from the wide diameter culms of Garry (one of its parents). The trial at Colleambally included the dwarf oat Echidna, which appeared to lack drought resistance in the dryland trial site at Adelong, NSW (notwithstanding the cool climate). Coleambally and Adelong yields are compared in Chapter Four (see Figure 4.1). This highlights the dangers of breeding for specialised grain only oats. Figure 2.1 shows the strong straw of Garry.
The variety, Blackbutt, topped the grazing and grain yields under dryland conditions at Cowra, NSW as well as under irrigation for grain only in comparison with specialised grain oats bred for the Mediterranean climates of Australia (see Chapter Three). Blackbutt can therefore be considered as a triple-purpose oat variety. This dual-purpose and grain only character is largely due to its fairly short and very strong straw. It is recommended for irrigated farms, where the soil is often too wet to bear the traffic of grazing animals, and thus where grazing is impossible. Grazing reduces the height of the grain crop and so prevents lodging. This eliminates the necessity to use chemicals to shorten crop height. The variety Blackbutt increases this flexibility of management and enables it to be grazed by cattle, sheep or horses.
Blackbutt, Carbeen and many other proven high yielding lines were derived from the cross F.Ga (2113 E 57) X VRAF.VRSF (1309 G 57)4, which is the High-vigour line and is described in further detail in Chapter Three. The above male parent (always written on the right hand side) is a more frost resistant and larger grained sister line to Cooba. Cooba is an excellent dual-purpose, but not triple-purpose, oat for less frost liable areas, which was discovered and promoted by Dr Mengersen (Mengersen 1963) at Temora Agricultural Research Station. Cooba is much less resistant to frost damage and water-logging than Acacia and the High-vigour selections, Blackbutt and Carbeen. Cooba’s weak straw results from narrower diameter culms than those of Blackbutt.
It should be noted that the Glen Innes oat breeding program had always aimed primarily for high quality feeding grains (see Chapter Five). If these are suitable for oatmeal milling, that is a bonus but in the Author’s view this is secondary to storage and stock feeding quality.
An oat germplasm inventory
All cultivars, lines and crossbreds referred to throughout this book have been given an inventory number.
An inventory of oat cultivars, lines and crossbreds is presented and arbitrarily grouped into the three broad rainfall patterns that occur in Australia. The first of these groups is the summer rainfall areas, namely the eastern coastlands of NSW and Queensland; the Darling Downs of Queensland, the New England Tablelands and the North-West Slopes and Plains. The second group consists of the central and southern inland NSW from Dubbo to the Murray River. This is considered a uniform rainfall area. The third group is the winter rainfall zone which includes the Riverina Plains of NSW, Victoria and South Australia. Tasmania and south-west of Western Australia are also included. Identification numbers are given for each cultivar and crossbred and these appear in brackets when referenced in the text of this chapter. For pedigrees of the older Australian oat varieties, readers are referred to Lazenby and Matheson (1975).
It is necessary to have an inventory of germplasm to help distinguish particular selections within crosses and even within old landraces like Algerian and Fulghum. Although both of these lines have been “bulk typed” for many years in the Department of Agriculture foundation seed areas, the Author recorded segregation in both lines for juvenile habit of growth in the F2 summer rust nursery of 1958 (Table 2.6). Similar variability has been reported by Coffman for the related varieties of Red Rustproof and Kanota in the Southern United States (Coffman 1961), Mediterranean-derived landraces that have been very successful in Australia and in the U.S.A. This concept of an assemblage of genotypes has been transferred to the F3 and F4 bulks and the F4 bulk types of the High-vigour cross (Guerin and Guerin 1992). By contrast, Carbeen (Roberts, 1981) is an F6 selection from this cross. Carbeen was the only cultivar tested by Craig and Potter (1983) in the winter rainfall zone of South Australia which increased its grain yield following two grazings.
This inventory does not include naked oats within this primary gene pool of A. sativa and A. byzantina. Naked oats are susceptible to threshing damage and reduced germination, as well as discoloration of the groat, caused by Alternaria alternata and A. tenuissima. Also, more animal feeding experiments are needed to justify it. It is difficult to store in bulk and has been intensively studied (Stanton, 1923; Valentine and Clothier 1992).
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Figure 2.1 Straw strength of various lines and cultivars. (Top Left) Fulghum (F) showing lodging; (Top Right) weak strawed Belar; (Bottom Left) strong strawed Garry x VRBke.F (W4598); (Bottom Right) strong strawed Fulmark.
Climatic zones for oat breeding and production
Overview
Australia is classed as a continent and therefore it contains most climatic zones found throughout the world (Figure 2.2). For the purposes of oat breeding and production in Australia, 3 main climatic zones of this continent have been identified and in the following sections, the oat varieties discussed in this chapter and book have been assigned to these zones. This assignment of cultivar or line to a zone has been based on the zone in which the line or cultivar was bred. These are: The sub-tropical climate zone, also referred to as the summer rainfall zone, and also occurs on the coastal areas of Southern Queensland and Northern NSW (Table 2.2). The uniform rainfall climate zone approximates the inland area of NSW from as north as Coonabarabran/Dubbo to West Wyalong/Temora in southern NSW (Table 2.3). The winter rainfall climate occurs south of West Wyalong/Temora and includes the Australian states of Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia and Western Australia (Table 2.4). These three climatic regions or zones also exist in the state of New South Wales (NSW) (Figure 2.3). The degrees of resistance for each zone and cultivar requirements are listed (Table 2.7).
Figues 2.4-2.14 illustrate examples of the morphology of oat varieties and lines bred in various climatic zones.
Summer rainfall zone - Northern NSW and Southern Queensland
The large inventory of germplasm for the summer rainfall zone at Glen Innes (Table 2.2) is due to the greater complexity of breeding objectives for dual-purpose oats than in the other two zones. A wider germplasm pool was required for this zone to incorporate all the resistances required.
Tribute must be paid to the pioneer oat breeders of Australia, many of whom bred cultivars in this zone. Pridham selected Belar, an excellent milling oat, as well as Sunrise, Lachlan, Mulga and Guyra (Mengersen 1960). Dwyer created Lampton, a spring oat resistant to rust, and various crosses giving great yield potential. Steve Macindoe created the famous high grain quality oats of Acacia, Blythe (good yielder in Tasmania and the female parent of Cooba) and inspired all succeeding agronomists with his spartan but humane expounding of the low technology plant breeding equipment at Glen Innes. Carroll created Cooba, 1309 G 57 (line 28) and Fulghum x Garry, 2113 E 57 (line 23).
Two older varieties formerly recommended for irrigation have been documented in this inventory. These are Bundy (15) (Guerin, 1965), a midseason dual-purpose oat suitable for milling and with resistance to red-legged earth mite derived from Burke (17) and Mugga (58) (Guerin, 1966), the most winter-hardy oat, equal to Winglen winter wheat in this respect. Mugga has high quality grains and is an excellent late-maturing Tableland oat. If allowed to finish properly, that is grown in a suitable climate, it may prove suitable for milling. Both of these varieties are resistant to smut, but are not resistant to crown or stem rusts. Bundy is also dual-purpose oat with high grain yields in the 1957 drought and Mugga, still the most winter-hardy Australian oat and one of the most frost resistant oats with high grain quality and hectolitre weight, were developed by Guerin (1965, 1966). Mugga is as hardy as the winter wheats, and significantly superior in July grazing production to Windebri and Coolabah. It is, however, later-maturing than Blackbutt and lacked the stem rust resistance and superior yields of Blackbutt. Winter production and frost resistance are two separate traits, genetically. Bundy and Mugga are more resistant than Cooba to frost and waterlogging. The latter characteristic made them suitable for the irrigated Riverina trials, until they were replaced by Blackbutt (Komoll and Fitzsimmons 1974) in 1975.
A High-vigour cross was identified by its F1 vigour and the continuing “heterosis” and uniformity of its F2 plant progenies (Guerin, 1961). This cross is written as HvII 57-75, referred to as A in Table 2.7. These became “F3 bulks” in 1959 and in the F4 were first “drill-tested” in 1960. They continued to be stable high yielding bulks over time. This observation was similar to Suneson's barley composites (Allard and Handshe, 1964; Suneson, 1956). P4315 (38), one of the High-vigour selections, was outstanding for long-season high biomass yields and was rapid in ripening. Blackbutt, Carbeen and P4315 resulted from this cross.the cross, line 28 x line 23, made by Guerin (Guerin 1961). The large number of useful high yielding selections from this cross suggested that it should be referred to as the High-vigour cross or HvII. P4315 broke the world oat grain yield record of 10.6 t/ha by almost 90% (Fageria 1992) and the UK 1982 world wheat yield record of 15.7 t/ha by 26% at Tamworth Agricultural Research Institute in 1973 (Evans 1996).
Where the late sown F3 selection (from F2 residue seed) segregated markedly for maturity, rust resistance or grain type, “bulk typing” was applied. The “ideal type” in both F3 and F4 is represented by “n”, a number of single plants exhibiting phenotypic similarity to one another. The final result was a small number of F4 “directed bulks”, including Blackbutt, which were first drill tested in 1962. Gammie (1990), many generations after its release, describes Blackbutt as among the best dual-purpose (grazing and grain) cultivars in oats, wheat, barley and triticale trials and these dual-purpose attributes are described in detail in the following chapter.
Carbeen, also the result of the High-vigour cross, is also classified as a summer rainfall variety although its final selection and promotion was done by Roberts at Temora. Newer varieties, bred by Roberts (1989 a,b) at Temora, include Hakea and Yarran. The origin and description of the High-vigour cross from Glen Innes are detailed in Table 2.8.
Garry, a Canadian spring oat, provided rust resistance to the High-vigour cross. Many selections from the High-vigour cross were equal and even superior in grazing yields to that of Fulghum on the black soil of the Liverpool Plains (Komoll 1989). This was hailed by NSW Agriculture, Regional Supervisor, Jim O’Reilly, as a big advance in oat breeding (Kommoll 1989), as the new selections are greatly superior to Fulghum in grain recovery yields, and resistance to lodging, shattering, smut (Ustilago sp.) and stem rust (Puccinia graminis avenae).
Cooba, although classified as a summer rainfall variety, because the crosses and early selections were made by Macindoe and Carroll at Glen Innes, the final selection and promotion/extension was done by Mengersen at Temora in NSW (the uniform rainfall zone).
Uniform rainfall zone - Southern NSW
This uniform rainfall zone has received intensive attention by Dr. F. Mengersen and Mr. G. Roberts. The former developed Cooba and bred Coolabah and Cassia for more lenient grazing and less frosty conditions. The latter developed Carbeen from the High-vigour cross, mentioned above and discussed in detail in Chapter Three, and bred Yarran, Hakea and Eurabbie for less frosty conditions.
Figure 2.2 Climatic regions of Australia.
Figure 2.3 A transect of NSW showing the Northern, Central and Southern regions in NSW approximating summer rainfall, uniform rainfall and winter rainfall zones, respectively.
Table 2.2 Summer rainfall germplasma.
Name/no. (Abbrev.) |
Pedigree |
Breeder/Source | |
1 |
Acacia (Ac.) |
VRAF |
Macindoe |
a This section of the inventory is continued on the next page.
Figure 2.4 BLACKBUTT variety with medium panicle shape and light brown grains: the longest grazing season cultivar of Australian winter cereals. Photograph is from Australian Oat Varieties by R.W. Fitzsimmons et al. CSIRO (1983).
Table 2.2 Summer rainfall germplasm (continued)a.
Name/no. (Abbrev.) |
Pedigree |
Breeder/Source | |
20 |
Cedar (Ced) |
VR, Victoria x Richland |
(ex USDA) |
a 0 = a bulk of all plants derived from a single F2 plant where the succeeding long F3 row appeared uniform and distinct from other rows; n = a bulk of plants in F3 and F4 selected for phenotypic similarly in rows segregating for rust resistance, grain type, maturity, and height; G = Glen Innes, H = Hawkesbury Agricultural College, R = Grafton.
Table 2.3 Uniform rainfall germplasm.
Name/no. (Abbrev.) |
Pedigree |
Breeder | |
101 |
Avon |
Bl x Mlg x Lag |
Bateman |
Figure 2.5 COOLABAH is an early grazing and grain variety with medium panicle shape and cream coloured grains. It is too frost susceptible for the summer rainfall germplasm list. Photo is from Australian Oat Varieties by R.W. Fitzsimmons et al. CSIRO (1983).
Table 2.4 Winter rainfall cultivars.
Name/no. (Abbrev.) |
Pedigree |
Breeder/Source | |
201 |
Algeribee (Agb) |
ex New Algerian |
(ex Werribee) |
a OT207 has dwarf mutant gene W6; bWest Australian Dept Agriculture.
Figure 2.6 ORIENT is an erect early midseason variety for grain only, with medium to open panicle and dark brown grains. It is too frost susceptible for the summer rainfall germplasm list. Photograph from Australian Oat Varieties by R.W. Fitzsimmons et al. CSIRO (1983).
Table 2.5 Crosses combining rust resistance with agronomic value.
Cross |
Parents |
Female |
Male |
Genotypes |
Phenotype |
A |
28 x 23 |
SRRf |
SRSg |
dissimilarh |
similar |
a 0600 = (Bo x Rainbow) x (Hajira-Joanette) x Lf, ex Minnesota, USA b 0614 = R + Canadian + White Tartarian, SRR, ex Minnesota, USA; c 0615 = Kubanca + White Tartarian, MSRR, ex Minnesota, USA d W4477 = VR Bke F.WF (sister to Bundy) e 1244 G57 = F.Ga, F5 bulk, very early, very large grains
f SRR = stem rust resistant; M = moderate; R = resistant; g SRS = stem rust susceptible; S = susceptible h All crosses are genetically dissimilar (A. sativa x A. byzantina) but only cross A is phenotypically similar to some extent with dual-purpose qualities in both parents, although morphologically different. Cross A produced only 147 plants in the F2, out of which 62 progenies were sown in F3 long rows.
Table 2.6 Segregation in landraces for juvenile growth habit, Glen Innes 1958.
Landrace |
TPa |
Erect |
Semi-erect |
Prostrate |
Algerian |
25 |
15 |
7 |
3 |
aTP = Total number of plants observed in row.
Figure 2.7 ALGERIAN variety with open panicle and mid-brown grains from Australian Oat Varieties by R.W. Fitzsimmons et al. CSIRO (1983). Table 2.6 shows that both Algerian and Fulghum were segregating for juvenile habit of growth in the 1958 F2 summer rust nursery, confirming Coffman’s claim that the related varieties of Red Rustproof and Kanota in the USA could not be fixed.
Table 2.7 Resistances for various environmentsa.
Cultivar Resistance |
Rainfall zones | ||
Summer |
Uniform |
Winter | |
Frost |
H |
M |
L |
a H = high; M = medium; L = low (levels of resistance or requirement); b regular autumn drought;
c regular summer drought; d 4-5 grazings; e 1-2 grazings; f grain yield after grazing.
Figure 2.8 COOBA is a mid-season grazing and grain variety with open panicle and mid brown grains from Australian Oat Varieties by R.W. Fitzsimmons et al. CSIRO (1983). Cooba is inferior to Blackbutt and Carbeen for grazing and frost resistance in the summer rainfall zone.
Table 2.8 Origin and description of genotypes developed from the High-vigour cross, 28 X 23.
F3 No |
F2 single plant |
Crown rust |
Stem rust |
Smut |
Final result (Name/No) |
838 |
1460 |
segb |
seg |
0 |
F3 bulk (too early-discontinued) |
843 |
360 |
seg |
1- |
seg |
F3 bulk (frosted-discontinued) |
851 |
600 |
1- |
1- |
0 |
P4315, F3 bulk (top yielder) |
856 |
300 |
seg |
seg |
seg |
P4314; F4 bulk type is P4317 |
869 |
420 |
2+ |
seg |
0 |
Carbeen, F6 plant progeny |
871 |
360 |
seg |
seg |
seg |
P4322; F4 bulk type is P4318, BYDV tolerantc |
886 |
240 |
seg |
1- |
0 |
P4316; F4 bulk type is P4319 or 886/1 (Blackbutt) |
898 |
420 |
6 |
1 |
0 |
F3 bulk (discontinued) |
a Out of 62 single plants selected in F2, Blackbutt was released in 1975 and Carbeen in 1981;
b Segregation required bulk typing while fixing disease resistance; c Tolerant to BYDV.
Figure 2.9 CARBEEN variety with condensed panicle shape and medium brown grains.
A mid-season variety with prostrate early habit of growth, the most adaptable to the 3 rainfall zones. Photograph from Australian Oat Varieties by R.W. Fitzsimmons et al. CSIRO (1983).
Figure 2.10 FULGHUM spiklets and florets from Oat Identification and Classification by T.R. Stanton (1955) US Department of Agriculture Technical Bulletin No. 1100. Fulghum is a semi-winter type and appears to be of hybrid origin, with many traits intermediate between the northern common oats, A. sativa, and the southern red oats, A. byzantina, as judged by observers in the US.
Figure 2.11 FLORET SEPARATION distinguishes the 2 types of cultivated oats which are Avena sativa (on the left), separating by distal fracture, and A.byzantina (on the right), usually separating by basal fracture. Photograph from F.A. Coffman, Inheritance of Morphological Characters in Avena, Technical Bulletin No. 1308, Agricultural Research Service, United States Department of Agriculture.
Figure 2.12 MORPHOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF THE OAT PLANT, showing (1) panicle and spikelet, main rachis and panicle branches; (2) rachilla and basal hairs of mature grain; (3) spikelet showing pedicel, glumes, rachilla, primary grain and secondary grain and awn on the primary grain; (4) culm nodes and nodal hairs and (5) leaf margins and leaf sheaths, both hairy and glabrous. From Anonymous (1962).
Figure 2.13 The Author assessing mature oat crop stands. (Top) Avon x VRFB; (Bottom) Garry x VRBke (2056) on the right and Fulghum (see summer rainfall germplasm inventory) on the left.
Figure 2.14 Mature oat crop stands. (Top) The Author with a tall strong strawed line; (Bottom) Avon (see the uniform rainfall germplasm inventory) on the left and taller W4477 on the right.
For the uniform rainfall zone, Mengersen (1960, 1963 and 1968) has described Algerian (3), Cooba (22) and Coolabah (105), respectively, as high yielding dual-purpose oats. Mengersen’s variety Cassia (103) is a high yielding feed grain oat described by Fitzsimmons et al. (1983). These varieties have not been used for crossing at Glen Innes because of their frost susceptibilities. Such exclusion is not always a logical plan as transgressive segregation for frost resistance is common in oats where only one parent is frost resistant.
Winter rainfall zone
Apart from Nile, Bass and Esk, three high-yielding dual-purpose cultivars bred by Mr. W. Vertigan in Tasmania, most varieties from this southern rainfall zone have tended to be grain only varieties (Vertigan 1979). This is suggested by trials carried out at Coleambally, Adelong and Temora (all in NSW) and described in Chapter Three.
Mr. A Barr of Adelaide has created unique varieties in this grain only category, the dwarf oats, Dolphin and Echidna, with the mutant gene W6; Potoroo with resistance and tolerance to cereal cyst nematode (CCN) a problem in South Australia and Victoria; and Bandicoot, a naked oat with exciting possibilities for animal diet formulations for pigs, poultry and racehorses. More recent varieties bred in South Australia are described by Zwer (2005).
Varieties from Victoria were Palestine, Dawn, Algeribee, Alpha and Orient, the largest-grained Australian oat, as tested at Glen Innes by the Author. The breeders of many of these Victorian varieties, along with varieties from other locations, are provided in Table 2.4.
An Australian oat ideotype
The concept of an ideal Australian oat variety (or Ideotype) is one that is dual-purpose and preferably sown in February or March (August to September in the Northern Hemisphere if winter is not excessively severe or if the growing location is not too far north). An effective program of breeding and testing dual-purpose oat varieties would include the following goals: (A) Selection for resistance to frost, smut, stem rust, and BYDV; (B) Grain quality should be considered as more important than millability. Grain quality should therefore be assessed by its weight in kilograms per hectolitre, at least 50, and the groat percentage (1000 dehulled grain over the 1000 whole grains tested) should be at least 70; (C) Total yield or biomass of herbage and high quality grain. Hay yields, straw height and lodging should be recorded; (D) requires strong vegetative growth and strong straw; and (E) strong competitive habit of growth compared with that of weeds. Instead of herbicides, which involve both extra cost and can lead to potential adverse environmental impacts, oats can better utilise the long fallow as they can be sown four months earlier than wheat or barley and therefore with less risk of soil erosion.
Conclusions
The oat genetic material developed at Glen Innes, NSW has not been fully exploited. The greatest potential for oat expansion in Australia is in the northern half of NSW and Southern Queensland, the eastern coastal regions, and the irrigated and dryland Riverina areas of NSW and Victoria. In contrast to these areas are the marked winter rainfall climates and soils of Western and South Australia. These are states which produce specialised grain oats and are aiming to supply the export market for milling and feed oats. This type of specialisation should be supplemented by the breeding of triple-purpose cultivars at Glen Innes, NSW, and adjacent regions. This would enable the generation and exchange of new oat genotypes to take place, giving rise to greater adaptability in the crop and a more productive oat ideotype would result from the implementation of such action. On balance there seems no reason why pasture oat varieties cannot be grown in the southern rainfall zones of Australia. On the other hand, the frost susceptible specialised grain oats of Western Australia cannot be grazed in Central and Northern NSW. The agronomic advantages of grazing oats have many beneficial effects for “whole farm” management that they cannot be wisely neglected. As the winter rainfall climate of Western Australia is generally the most productive of oat grain of any Australian climate, it would benefit growers in NSW if seed of the frost and grazing resistant oat varieties could be grown in Western Australia, where seed growers could be encouraged with a premium price or bonus. This could also lead to the incorporation of dual-purpose oat varieties into farm management and rotation systems.
References
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Anonymous. 1962. The Aberystwyth Varieties of Oats, University College Wales, Wales.
Coffman, F.A. 1961. Oats and oat improvement. Madison: American Society of Agronomy.
Craig, A.D. and T.D. Potter. 1983. The effect of grazing on the yield of ten oat cultivars in the south-east of Australia. Agricultural Record 10: 4-7.
Dwyer, L. 1934. The effect of cutting back oats on the grain yield. NSW Agriculture Report, pp.1-2.
Evans, L.T. 1996. Crop Evolution, Adaptation and Yield. Cambridge University Press. pp. 288-289.
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3 The results of this trial are discussed in further detail in Chapter Four.
4 F = Fulghum, Ga = Garry, VR = Victoria x Richland, A = Algerian, S = Sunrise, which is an early maturing selection derived from a natural cross with Algerian.
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