31 July 1984 Third year of Wheat 84 takes place at Weedons

Six of the competitors in the ICI-Tasman Wheat 84 competition have sown Advantage, probably because of the resistance of this cultivar to stripe rust, four have chosen Rongotea, and one each Oroua and Arawa.

Rongotea has been the top prize-winning variety in the two previous competitions, but last season the cost of controlling stripe rust was high for those who planted this cultivar.

Darfield farmer Mr Dudley Jarman has chosen Arawa, an old-established variety that he still grows on his own farm.

Ashburton farmer Mr Mervyn Brenton has planted Oroua, the cultivar which won the quality prize last year.

Lincoln College plant scientist Dr Warwick Scott said the choice of varieties was interesting in the light of MDD scores for wheat cultivars in the 1983-84 season.

Only wheat with an MDD – mechanical dough development - score of 15-plus was classified as Category A, he said.

"The MDD scores for last season were Advantage 13.2, Rongotea 14.8, Arawa 16.3 and Oroua 16.6.

"This shows that given a season similar to last year only two plots in the competition would on average produce Category A wheat," he said.

Last year's winner, Mr Ivan Maw, laid out $67.47 per hectare to control stripe rust and take the competition only $1.50 ahead of the second place-getter.

Last year one competitor spent $107.50 per hectare on his plot of Rongotea to control stripe rust, reflecting the additional chemical applied.

Competitors' plots for Wheat 84 are at Weedons, on the Main South Road one kilometre north of Rolleston.

This is the third year of the wheat competition sponsored by ICI-Tasman and administered by Lincoln College.

Wheat 84 is being organised by representatives from DSIR Crop Research Division, Federated Farmers, Lincoln College, the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, the New Zealand Wheat Board, and the North Canterbury Agricultural Merchants Federation and United Wheat Growers Limited.

Further information from Dr Warwick Scott, Plant Science Department, Lincoln College, Canterbury, New Zealand.