Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-l7hp2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-03T00:46:09.479Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Variation in pod length in spring rape (Brassica napus) and its effect on seed yield and yield components

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 March 2009

P. Chay  and
N. Thurling
P. Chay
Affiliation:
School of Agriculture, University of Western Australia, Nedlands, W.A. 6009, Australia
N. Thurling
Affiliation:
School of Agriculture, University of Western Australia, Nedlands, W.A. 6009, Australia
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Ten selections from the cultivar China A, with widely different pod lengths, were compared in a single environment in Perth in 1983. Pod length was correlated positively with seed weight per pod but negatively with number of pods per plant. As a result, there was no significant relationship between pod length and seed yield, although the highest- and lowest-yielding lines were, respectively, longand short-podded.

Two lines differing markedly in pod length were compared in a second experiment in 1984 in which sowing date and plant population density within a sowing date were varied. Although pod length was relatively stable, seed yield and some of its components were greatly affected by sowing date and plant density. Again, the long-podded line produced fewer pods with a greater weight of seed per pod than the short-podded line in most conditions. Compensation for greater seed weight per pod by a reduction in number of pods per plant was primarily responsible for the absence of significant differences in yield between lines in any treatment.

Although long pods generally produced a greater weight of seeds per pod than short pods, the advantage in seed number and/or the weights of individual seeds was less than that expected pro rata for the much greater pod length. Indeed, short pods produced more seeds per unit length of pod than long pods. This suggested a less efficient distribution of assimilates within the longer pods, a greater amount being required to support the growth of pod walls than in short pods.

Alternative approaches to using pod length as a criterion of selection for high yield are discussed.

Type
Review
Information
The Journal of Agricultural Science , Volume 113 , Issue 2 , October 1989 , pp. 139 - 147
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1989

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Allen, E. J. & Morgan, D. G. (1972). A quantitative analysis of the effects of nitrogen on the growth, development and yield of oilseed rape. Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 78, 315–324.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brar, G. & Thies, W. (1977). Contribution of leaves, stem, siliquas and seeds to dry matter accumulation in ripening seeds of rapeseed, Brassica napus L. Zeitschrift für Pflanzenphysiologie 83, 1–13.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chay, P. M. & Thurling, N. Identification of genes controlling pod length in spring rapeseed (Brassica napus L.) and their utilization for yield improvement. Plant Breeding (in press).Google Scholar
Mendham, N. J., Shipway, P. A. & Scott, R. K. (1981). The effects of delayed sowing and weather on growth, development and yield on winter oil-seed rape (Brassica napus). Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 96, 389–416.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mendham, N. J., Russel, J. & Buzza, G. C. (1984). The contribution of seed survival to yield in new Australian cultivars of oilseed rape (Brassica napus). Journal of Agricultural Science, Cambridge 103, 303–316.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pechan, P. A. & Morgan, D. G. (1985). Defoliation and its effects on pod and seed development in oilseed rape (Brassica napus L.). Journal of Experimental Botany 36, 458–468.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thurling, N. (1974). Morphophysiological determinants of yield in rapeseed (Brassica campestris and Brassica napus). II. Yield components. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 25, 711–721.CrossRefGoogle Scholar