Gongs for best field days site
Among the regular exhibitors at last month’s South Island Agricultural Field Days, the one that arguably takes the most intensive preparation every time is the PGG Wrightson Seeds site.
The company points to Pallaton Raphno, a kale-radish hybrid, which is the first new species of its kind in New Zealand since the 1980s.
The company says its drought tolerance is where this plant really stands out, performing well in some of the harshest conditions and helping maintain production in systems that would otherwise struggle in the dryer months.
PGG Wrightson Seeds annual crops breeding manager Andy Dumbleton says its water use efficiency allows it “to grow a hell of a lot with not much”.
Pallaton Raphno began life in the early 2000s when Dumbleton was an agronomist, with the development being a bit of a side project.
“I was thinking, yeah, I could probably keep going and make a plant that does x, y and z,” he says.
It took 16 years to bring it from a side project to a commercially available crop, which has proven itself over the last 4 years with its excellent performance in drought conditions, particularly in Waikato and the east coast of the North Island.
Part of its advantage is in the first 40 days after sowing (DAS), where the plant puts most of its energy into sending the taproot deep into the ground.
Dumbleton says this focus underground can mean that often it doesn’t look like it’s doing much growing, but really it’s pulling all its energy down, then all of a sudden, at about 35 to 40 DAS it switches over from growing a root to growing canopy.
PGG Wrightson Seeds sales agronomist, Paul Greenbank, says its drought tolerance allows feed to be carried through into the dryer months, continuing to grow well.
