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Male-Sterile Wheat Seed Production in North Dakota¹

Normal and male-sterile lines of an experimental bread wheat, Minn. 11-54-30 (Triticum aestivum L. em. Thell. and T. aestivum L. em. Thell. with T. timopheevi (Zhuk.) Zhuk. cytoplasm), were planted in a systematic arrangement of alternate drill strips to evaluate seed production of the male-sterile line. Approximate ratios of 1:1, 2:1, and 3:1 of male-sterile to normal were tested over seven environments in 1971 and 1972. Drill-strip widths of the male-sterile ranged from 3.1 to 11.0 m. Overall mean yields from strips of the male-sterile were 18.2, 14.6, and 12.8 q/ha (quintals/ha) for the 1:1, 2:1, and 3:1 ratios, respectively. These yields of the male-sterile represent 64.4, 51.5, and 45.7% of the normal yields, respectively. Seed set distribution within the male-sterile in the 2:1 and 3:1 ratio drill widths showed a distinct, though not constant, pattern of decrease toward the center of the strips.

A production unit concept was used to compare the efficiencies of the three different ratios from a commercial perspective. Actual yields of male-sterile from a production hectare were 9.1, 10.1, and 9.9 q for the 1:1, 2:1, and 3:1 ratios, respectively. However, when yield of the normal lines was considered, total yields (normal and male-sterile) from a production hectare were 23.3, 18.7, and 16.4 q for the three respective ratios.

The data from this study were used to evaluate the relationship between seed production yields and relative profit from growing hybrid wheat. The relative profit decreased as production yields decreased, particularly when yields were below a calculated critical level. Hybrid wheat seed production practices that tend to maintain yields above this critical yield level possibly should have priority over alternative practices that can give maximum yields but are vulnerable to production stresses.

Key Words: Hybrid wheat • Cross-pollination • Seed set • Triticum aestivum L. em. Thell.

² Instructor, former Instructor, and Professor of Agronomy,North Dakota State University, Fargo, ND 58102.

Received for publication January 12, 1974.