Optimising Plant Establishment 2019 Hart Canola Experiment

Data from the 2019 crop establishment trial at Hart, SA. The trial compared the establishment of canola at different seeding rates, under a conventional cone seeder and under a precision seeder, and at two different row spacings (a narrow row spacing of 22.9cm vs a wide row spacing of 30.5cm). The experiment was run under the UOA1803-009RTX GRDC research project led by the University of Adelaide, with the experiment and local data collection handled by the Hart Field-Site Group.

Files:2019 Hart Canola.xlsx

Experiment setup:Experiment managed locally by the Hart Field-Site Group. The trial was organised as a split plot design, with 4 main plot treatments (conventional seeder: wide row spacing, conventional seeder: narrow row spacing, precision seeder: wide row spacing, precision seeder: narrow row spacing), and 6 subplot treatments (seeding rate 15, 25, 35, 45, 55, 65 seeds/m2). The design was arranged spatially in 3 columns with 32 rows, 4 replicates, for 96 plots total.

Variables recorded:establishment count (plants/m2), interplant distance (cm), NDVI, seedling depth (mm), flowering biomass dry weight (t/ha), stubble rating, yield (t/ha), 1000 grain weight (g), seeds/m2

Data collection and assessment:The paddock was seeded on 14/05/2019, with the wide-row precision seeder sown on 15/05/2019. Plant emergence counts were made by counting plants across 2 rows in specified plots on 25/05/2019, 27/05/2019, 31/05/2019, 03/06/2019, 06/06/2019 and 21/06/2019, with the final establishment count for all plots and interplant distances measured on 09/07/2019. Seedling depth was measured in mm, averaged over 5 separate counts at specified plots, on 14/06/2019. NDVI readings were made on 18/07/2019 and 02/08/2019. A stubble assessment was also made on 06/08/2019. The flowing biomass cuts were made for the dry weight assessment on 09/09/2019, and the harvest index cuts were made on 25/10/2019. At harvest on 29/10/2019, the yield (in t/ha) and 1000 grain weight were recorded for all plots.