Limagrain UK breeders still focus on non-Glycosidic Nitrile barleys

 

Limagrain managing director, Lee Robinson assured the attending members of the seed trade that the distilling market for spring barley remained a key focus for the company, Concerto which currently dominates the malting barley market will be difficult to replace in the short term due to its quality. 

 

However he added that son of Concerto, Odyssey, had proved itself to be a sound alternative and that this choice has been widened with the recommendations of new non-GN, dual purpose varieties Octavia, Sienna and Olympus.

 

All of the varieties offer a step up in yield and agronomics from Odyssey pointed out Mark Glew, senior barley breeder with Limagrain. 

 

 

With a grain and malt quality very similar to Belgravia, variety Olympus is targeted at the grain distilling market and currently holds IBD(Institute of Brewing and Distilling ) provisional approval for malt and grain distilling.

 

 

Variety Sienna holds IBD provisional approval for malt distilling and brewing. Sienna shows the robustness of its disease resistance. Sienna is a tall variety stands out with its high specific weight an important feature for end users as high specific weight means increased volume which is also important should the variety be used for feed.

 

Variety Octavia has IBD provisional approval for malt distilling and brewing. Octavia is the only variety with a higher hot water extract (HWE) than Concerto and so far has produced low grain nitrogen in trials. 

 

Mr. Glew underlined the breeders commitment to non GN barleys, demonstrated by the two candidate varieties currently in recommended list trials. High yielding Ovation (108%) is the only non GN barley that matches Planet for yield, so a very exciting offering. Origin, the second of these is the stiffest candidate on the list, also with a high yield of 106.

 

“Whilst high yield potential is key to the success of any new variety, the emphasis of our breeding programme reflects the increasing importance of grain quality and we are beginning to analyse factors that bring ‘consistency’ – that is to produce varieties in the field that will perform across seasons and positions.”Mr. Glew added.