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Lethbridge Research Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, P.O. Box 3000, Lethbridge, AB T1J 4B1, Canada
* Corresponding author (sadash{at}agr.gc.ca)
‘AC Meena’ soft white spring wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) (Reg. no. CV-935, PI 632906) was developed by the Lethbridge Research Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Lethbridge, Alberta. It was granted a permanent regional (Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, and British Columbia) registration (no. 5300) on 20 April 2001 by the Variety Registration Office, Plant Health and Production Division, Canadian Food Inspection Agency, Government of Canada. AC Meena is a bearded wheat adapted to irrigated regions of southern Alberta and southern Saskatchewan.
AC Meena was developed from the cross ‘AC Reed’/SWS-124 made in 1992. SWS-124 is a selection from the cross ‘Owens’/SWS-15//4* ‘Fielder’. SWS-15 is a germplasm line from ICARDA. AC Reed (Sadasivaiah et al., 1993) is a soft white spring wheat cultivar released by Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, and the cultivars Fielder (Sunderman and Bruinsma, 1975) and Owens (Sunderman and O'Connell, 1984) were released by USDA-ARS and the Idaho Agricultural Experimental Station, Aberdeen, ID. The F2 to F4 populations were advanced as bulks with head selections made within each of these generations for semi-dwarf stature, early maturity, and lodging and shattering resistance. Single heads selected in the F4 bulk population were grown as F5 head rows in 1994-1995 at the Brawley, CA, winter nursery. The F6 line, 95WI-4917, was evaluated in a preliminary test in 1995, and in 1996 it was evaluated in an advanced test as PR95-2830. From 1997 to 1999, this line, designated SWS-234, was evaluated in Western Soft White Spring Wheat Cooperative Tests conducted at four locations (Lethbridge, Iron Springs, Vauxhall, and Bow Island) in southern Alberta and two locations (Saskatoon and Outlook) in southern Saskatchewan. The criteria used in the evaluation include grain yield, plant height, maturity, resistance to lodging, shattering and diseases, and end-use quality characteristics. Widely grown cultivars AC Reed, AC Phil (Sadasivaiah et al., 2000a), and AC Nanda (Sadasivaiah et al., 2000b) were used as checks.
In 3 yr of Western Soft White Spring Cooperative Test, AC Meena (7250 kg ha–1) yielded 5% more than AC Reed (6880 kg ha–1), and 3 and 6% higher than AC Phil (7070 kg ha–1) and AC Nanda (6840 kg ha–1). AC Meena has good resistance to lodging (2.2 on a scale of 1 to 9) and shattering (1.2 on a scale of 1 to 9), and matures (110 d) 2 d earlier than AC Nanda (112 d) and 2 to 3 d later than AC Reed and AC Phil. AC Meena (92 cm) is 6 cm taller than AC Reed and 2 cm shorter than AC Nanda.
AC Meena has a nonpigmented coleoptile and erect juvenile growth. It has a midwide, midlong, medium green and slightly curved flag leaf. Spikes are erect, oblong, middense and midlong and white at maturity; awns are midlong and appressed; glumes are midwide, midlong and glabrous; glume shoulders are midwide and oblique; glume beaks are midlong and acuminate; kernels are soft, creamy white, midsize (34.2 mg), midlong, oval to ovate; germ is midsize, oval to ovate; crease is midwide to wide, middeep; cheeks are rounded to angular; brush is mid-size to small and mid-long.
AC Meena is resistant to prevalent races of stripe rust (caused by Puccinia striiformis Westend), and moderately resistant to powdery mildew (caused by Blumeria graminis DC. f. sp. tritici Em. Marchal), and kernel black point [caused by Alternaria alternata (Fr.:Fr.) Keissl.]. It is moderately susceptible to leaf rust (caused by P. triticina Eriks.) and stem rust (caused by P. graminis Pers.:Pers.), susceptible to common bunt [caused by Tilletia laevis Kühn in Rabenh. and T. tritici (Bjerk.) G. Wint. in Rabenh.], and highly susceptible to loose smut [caused by Ustilago tritici (Pers.) Rostr.]. Plants were inoculated at the appropriate developmental stages with a mixture of races prevalent in western Canada to evaluate resistance to stripe rust, leaf rust, stem rust, loose smut, and common bunt. Resistance to powdery mildew and black point was evaluated under field conditions with natural infection during 1997 to 1999 at four (Lethbridge, Iron Springs, Vauxhall, and Bow Island) locations in southern Alberta.
The milling and baking characteristics of AC Meena were evaluated from 1997 to 1999 by the Grain Research Laboratory, Canadian Grain Commission, Winnipeg, MB., using AC Reed, AC Phil, and AC Nanda as checks. AC Meena (10.7%) was similar to AC Reed (10.9%) and AC Phil (10.7%) for protein content, and had lower protein than AC Nanda (11.4%). AC Meena (80.4 kg hL–1) had lower volume weight than AC Reed (81.6 kg hL–1), AC Phil (81.5 kg hL–1), and AC Nanda (83.5 kg hL–1). Its flour yield (75.2%) was lower compared to AC Reed (75.8%), AC Phil (75.9%), and AC Nanda (75.8%). AC Meena (362 s) had a higher falling number than AC Reed (353 s), AC Phil(350 s), and AC Nanda (327 s). The amylograph peak viscosity (expressed in Brabender units) for AC Meena (730.0 B.U.) was higher than that for AC Reed and AC Phil (493.3 and 488.3 B.U., respectively) and lower than that for AC Nanda (995.0 B.U.). Cultivars with high amylograph peak viscosity are preferable in some end-uses (e.g., soup thickener). Cookie spread for AC Meena (82.3 mm) was similar to AC Nanda (82.3 mm), but smaller than AC Reed (83.4 mm) and AC Phil (84.0 mm).
Seed harvested from 281 head rows selected out of 286 planted was bulked and increased at Indian Head in 2000 to form the Breeder seed. The Breeder seed of AC Meena will be maintained by the Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada Experimental Farm, Indian Head, SK, Canada S0G 2K0. Multiplication and distribution of the pedigreed seed will be handled by Haney Farms, P.O. Box 280, Picture Butte, Alberta, T0K 1V0.
NOTES
Development of AC Meena was partly funded by the Alberta Agricultural Research Institute and Alberta Soft Wheat Producers Commission through a Matching Grant Program (project #97M186), Western Grains Research Foundation and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada's Matching Investment Initiative progarm. LRC Contribution No. 387-02106. Registration by CSSA.
Accepted for publication August 31, 2003.
REFERENCES
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