Abstract
Acid soils in southern New South Wales (NSW) were recognised as a problem in the late 1960’s. Initial research determined the range of tolerance to Aluminium (Al) and Manganese (Mn), the benefits of these tolerances and the interaction with liming. Screening methods were evaluated and the utility of the haematoxylin root tip stain test for Al tolerance confirmed. A nutrient solution system for determining Mn tolerance was developed.
In the southern NSW wheat belt, where the soils are slowly acidifying, selecting for Al tolerance was estimated to increase grain yields by 1.4% at present, increasing to 3.2% in ten years time. This is a worthwhile improvement compared to other objectives of the breeding programme. Selecting for Mn tolerance was not justified.
Varieties in the breeding programme are evaluated with the haematoxylin stain test after the second year of trials on non-acid soils. Subsequent testing is on acid and non-acid soils. This scheme is not designed to maximise Al tolerance, but gives a reasonable balance between the many different objectives which the breeding programme has to consider. It is important that varieties recommended for acid soils also perform well on non-acid soil.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Atlin G N and Frey K J 1989 Predicting the relative effectiveness of direct versus indirect selection for oat yield in three types of stress environments. Euphytica 44, 137–142.
Brennan J P 1990 Valuing the breeding characteristics of wheat. Agricultural Economics Bulletin 7. NSW Agriculture and Fisheries, Yanco, Australia.
Brennan J P and Murray G M 1988 Australian Wheat Diseases: Assessing their economic importance. Agric. Sci. 2, 26–35.
Chartres C J, Cumming R W, Beattie J A, Bowman G M and Wood J T 1991 Acidification of soils on a transect from plains to slopes, south-western New South Wales. Aust. J. Soil Res. 28, 539–548.
Cornish P S and Murray G M 1989 Low rainfall rarely limits wheat yields in southern New South Wales. Aust. J. Exp. Agric. 29, 77–83.
Cregan P D, Hirth J R and Conyers M K 1989 Amelioration of soil acidity by liming and other amendments. In Acidity and Plant Growth. Ed A D Robson. pp 205–264. Academic Press, Sydney, Australia.
Falconer D S 1981 Introduction to quantitative Genetics. 2nd Ed. Longman Group Ltd., London.
Fisher J A and Scott B J 1987 Response to selection for aluminium tolerance. In Priorities in Soil/Plant Relations Research. Eds. P G E Searle and B G Davey. pp 135–137. School of Crop Sciences, University of Sydney, Australia.
Fisher J A and Scott B J 1983 Breeding wheats for tolerance to acid soils. In Proceedings of the Australian Plant Breeding Conference, Adelaide, February 1983, p 333.
Foy C D, Scott B J and Fisher J A 1988 Genetic differences in plant tolerance to manganese toxicity. In Manganese in Soils and Plants. Eds. R D Graham, R J Hannam and N C Uren, pp 293–307. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, The Netherlands.
Fraser K and Geeves G 1990 The economics of acid soils. Australian Agricultural Economics conference, 13–15 February 1990, University of Queensland.
Helyar K R, Cregan P D and Godyn D L 1991 Soil acidity in New South Wales: Current pH values and estimates of acidification rates. Aust. J. Soil Res. 28, 523–537.
Helyar K R and Porter W M 1989 Soil acidification, its measurement and the processes involved. In Acidity and Plant Growth. Ed. A D Robson. pp 167–203. Academic Press, Sydney, Australia.
Hochman Z, Godyn D L and Scott B J 1989 The integration of data on lime use by modelling. In Acidity and Plant Growth. Ed A D Robson. pp 265–301. Academic Press, Sydney, Australia.
Munns D N and Scott B J 1987 Biological aspects of mineral toxicities. In Priorities for soil/plant research for plant production. Eds. P G E Searle and B G Davey. pp 91–109. School of Crop Science, University of Sydney, Australia.
Osborne G J, Wright W A, and Sykes J A 1978 Increasing soil acidity threatens farming system. Agr. Gazette NSW 89, 21.
Payne R W, Lane P W, Ainsley A E, Bicknell K E, Digby P G N, Harding S A, Leech P K, Simpson H R, Todd A D, Verrier P J, White R P 1987 Genstat 5 Reference Manual. pp 366–368. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK.
Polle E, Konzak A F and Kittrick J A 1978 Visual detection of aluminium tolerance levels in wheat by hematoxylin staining of seedling roots. Crop Science 18, 823–827.
Richards R A 1983 Should selection for yield in saline regions be made on saline or non-saline soils? Euphytica 32, 431–438.
Ritchie G S P 1989 The chemical behaviour of aluminium, hydrogen and manganese in acid soils. In Acidity and Plant Growth. Ed. A D Robson. pp 1–60. Academic Press, Sydney, Australia.
Scott B J and Fisher J A 1989 Selection of genotypes tolerant of aluminium and manganese. In Acidity and Plant Growth. Ed. A D Robson. pp 167–203. Academic Press, Sydney, Australia.
Scott B J and Fisher J A 1992 Tolerance of Australian wheat varieties to aluminium toxicity. Commun. Soil Sci. Plant Anal. 23, 509–526.
Takagi H, Namai N and Murakami K 1982 Location of genetic factors of aluminium tolerance in common wheat cv. Chinese Spring. Jap. J. Breeding 32 (Suppl. 1), 28–29.
Wallace S U, Henning S L and Anderson IC 1982 Elongation, Al concentration, and haematoxylin staining of aluminium-treated wheat roots. Iowa State J. of Res. 57, 97–106.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1993 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Fisher, J.A., Scott, B.J. (1993). Are we justified in breeding wheat for tolerance to acid soils in southern New South Wales?. In: Randall, P.J., Delhaize, E., Richards, R.A., Munns, R. (eds) Genetic Aspects of Plant Mineral Nutrition. Developments in Plant and Soil Sciences, vol 50. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-1650-3_1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-1650-3_1
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-010-4721-0
Online ISBN: 978-94-011-1650-3
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive