Project
Grains Research and Development Corporation
Understanding the role of Plant Growth Regulators (PGRs) in Northern Barley.
Overview:
A series of good production years in southern Queensland and northern NSW has seen excellent yields of barley ruined by lodging and head drop.
Plant growth regulators have been used for many years in the southern high rainfall zones to manage rank growth and improve cereal harvestability.
GRDC contracted Censeo to undertake two years of crop trials to investigate the opportunity to use these products in the northern cropping systems.
Objective:
With several different activities, a wide range of popular barley varieties and highly variable cropping conditions and systems, this GRDC investment sought to provide growers with insights into how crops respond to PGRs in this complex multi-factorial environment.
The ideal outcome being sought was to be able to provide future guidance to growers on how to utilise PGRs as a tool for crop shaping.
Approach:
The variability of seasons, soil conditions and varieties was always likely to provide a challenging trial environment and the design of the protocols and selection of sites would need to mitigate some of the inherent risk.
Censeo began by consulting broadly with growers who had previous experience with lodging to try to define the key factors that led to potential issues. We identified six potential sites (both dryland and irrigated) stretching across the Darling Downs, intending to sow four and harvest at least two.
Our first season (2023) proved the polar opposite of the previous seasons and justified our risk mitigation process.
Results:
Regular communication with our client is a critical part of our approach, both to inform them of progress, but also to help them maximise the benefit of their investment through promotion and extension activities.
Censeo also believes this close collaboration usually benefits the trial quality and the ultimate outcomes, whether this be by leveraging the technical expertise and knowledge of our clients or creating the tailored outputs we deliver.
