Optimising Plant Establishment 2019 Roseworthy Canola & Faba Bean Experiment

Data from the 2019 crop establishment trials at Roseworthy, SA. The trials compared the establishment of Hyola 559TT canola and Samira faba bean seeded at different target densities, under a conventional cone seeder and under a precision seeder, with the faba bean trial additionally considering graded vs ungraded seeding treatments. The experiment was run under the UOA1803-009RTX GRDC research project, led and managed locally by the University of Adelaide.

Files:2019 Roseworthy Canola.xlsx, 2019 Roseworthy Faba bean.xlsx, Soil moisture 2019.xlsx, Soil temperatures & emergence data 2019.xlsx

Experiment setup:

• The faba bean trial was organised as a randomised complete block design with 8 treatments (containing combinations of the cone seeder vs precision seeder, graded and ungraded seeds, and with two different target seeding densities at 10 and 20 plants/m2), arranged spatially in two columns containing two replicates each, for a total of 32 plots. The variety sown was Samira faba bean.
• The canola trial was organised as a randomised complete block design with 8 treatments (containing combinations of the cone seeder vs precision seeder, with four different target seeding densities at 10, 20, 40 and 80 plants/m2), arranged spatially in two columns containing two replicates each, for a total of 32 plots. The variety sown was Hyola 559TT canola.

The canola trial was sown directly east of the faba bean trial, with separating border plots and with the same alignment and spatial dimensions.

Variables recorded:establishment count (plants/m2), soil moisture (% Volumetric Water Content), soil temperature (degrees Celsius), yield (g/plot), canola 1000-seed weight (g), faba bean 200-seed weight (g)

Data collection and assessment:Both trials were sown on 24/05/2019. Plant emergence counts were taken by counting the number of seedlings in the middle two rows along a 3m row length. The canola trial establishment counts were made roughly every two days between 31/05/2019 and 19/06/2019, with an extra final establishment count being made on 28/06/2019. The faba bean emergence counts were made roughly every two days between 08/06/2019 and 19/06/2019, with an extra final count on 28/06/2019. After each count, soil moisture was measured using MPM moisture probes placed in the centre of each plot, with the logged volumetric water content readings recorded in full in the 'Soil moisture 2019.xlsx' spreadsheet. Three soil temperature data loggers were used to record soil temperature information at 10cm depth between 30/05/2019 and 12/07/2019, and this data is available in the 'Soil temperatures & emergence data 2019.xlsx' spreadsheet. At harvest, the yield (in g/plot) was recorded for both the canola and faba bean trials. The canola 1000-seed weight was recorded in grams, and the faba bean 200-seed weight was recorded in grams.