Growth, development, and yield of three oilseed Brassica species in a water-limited environment [Western Australia]
1994
Lewis, G.J. | Thurling, N. (Western Australia Univ., Nedlands. School of Agriculture)
Representative lines of Brassica napus, B. campestris, and B. juncea were compared at East Beverley in the central wheatbelt of Western Australia on the basis of agronomic and physiological characters known to affect seed yield. Seed yield of B. juncea line 81794 was 32 percent higher than the locally adapted B. napus cv. Westbrook. Yield superiority of 81794 was not associated with any single yield component. Under the water-stressed conditions of this experiment, seed yield had a strong positive correlation with dry matter production after first open flower. Differences in dry matter production during this period were due to variation in crop growth rates among the lines, not to variations in duration of the period. Total water use throughout the season differed little among populations, but there were differences in water use patterns over time. Further increases in seed yield of oilseed brassicas in this environment should be possible if higher post-anthesis water use could be combined with lower soil evaporation and improved water use efficiency.
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