The influence of drilling date on the performance of winter oilseed rape

Abstract

The introduction of variety associations and restored hybrid varieties of Winter Oilseed Rape has raised queries as to whether they should be treated in optimum drilling date and seed rate terms as conventional varieties. Currently it is suggested by seed companies that variety associations and restored hybrids should ideally be drilled at about 80 seeds/m² (compared to the conventional variety rate of 120 seeds/m²) as the seed is more expensive and the varieties exhibit early hybrid vigour. It has also been suggested that these new introductions may be better suited to later drillings as they possess more hybrid vigour. The HGCA invited Arable Research Centres (ARC) to investigate these queries in collaboration with Scottish Agronomy (SA) and Morley Research Centre (MRC) in a project funded for one season.