Recent rainfall, ending a dry spell of six weeks, gives a welcome boost to varieties of spring and winter beans in breeder's and official trials in Yorkshire.
"Up to late last week, we hadn't seen a drop of rain on our spring and winter bean trials in Yorkshire for some six weeks, and they were looking parched,' says Craig Padley, LS Plant Breeding Ltd (LSPB) pulse and oilseed rape breeder. "But the last few days has seen a continuous series of strong showers that has perked them up no end.
"Our Yorkshire trials site is managed by NIAB/TAG and has our private breeder's spring and winter bean trials as well as the separate official RL and NL trials.'
PICTURES 1 & 2
Craig Padley is seen scoring the winter bean trials where LSPB have a new variety for RL consideration this autumn. The trials also have other RL and NL varieties for comparison.
PICTURE 3
The spring bean trials feature both PGRO Recommended List varieties, such as Lynx, Vertigo and Fanfare as well as varieties nearing the end of trials evaluation, such as the LSPB's candidate LVC variety Tiffany (see note 1). There are also replicated plots of the company's breeder's lines undergoing detailed evaluation.
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PICTURE 1 winter bean trials | PICTURE 2 winter bean trials | PICTURE 3 spring bean trials |