2021 Wheat Trials – Rust Readings

Here, Dr Andre du Toit, wheat breeder for Pannar Seed, evaluates Pannar’s wheat trials at Greytown in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands for Rust diseases. The main focus of the wheat breeding program is to increase the yield potential of wheat production in South Africa and to develop cultivars with better tolerance to pests, such as Russian Wheat Aphid and Rust diseases. Solid information on the agronomic characteristics of cultivars enables the Pannar team to make objective cultivar recommendations, so that cultivar performance meets producers' expectations – whilst reducing production risks as much as possible.

Greytown is situated in the Mist belt of KwaZulu-Natal. The environment is characterized by high humidity, therefore high disease pressure is normally experienced. This allows our cultivars to be thoroughly evaluated for their disease tolerance.