New Varieties Offer Flue-Cured Tobacco Growers Choices

Source from:  Richard Davis rdavis@farmprogress.com December 25, 2007  12/27/2007

A new variety from Cross Creek Seeds, CC 37, will be available to flue-cured tobacco producers this year. High yield is the name of the game for this new variety. CC 37 produced 3,278 pounds per acre in Tarheel variety tests this year. In fact, it placed third for yield of 42 varieties in tests where results were combined over five locations in the 2007 North Carolina Official Variety Trial. And of all the various variety traits high yield ranks among the most important when a grower is evaluating varieties, says Edgecombe County Extension agent Art Bradley. Bradley offers the following strategy for choosing a flue-cured tobacco variety: "First you have to be aware of the disease pressure you have on your farm," he says. "If you don't have a history of disease problems, then the first attribute you need to look at is yields. Consider which variety you can manage well and that is going to yield well on your farm. "However, if you do have disease, then you really need to be looking at a variety that has a good level of disease resistance for the problem you have, he adds. "I'd say that is particularly true if your fields have Granville wilt – if you have Granville wilt pressure you need to choose a variety that has a good level of disease resistance for it." While CC 37 performed excellently in the very important yield trait category, there are many varieties that outperformed it for disease. Researchers gave it a rating of 30 against black shank (varieties with higher disease ratings perform worse compared to those varieities with lower disease ratings). It earned a 20 rating against Granville wilt. Compare that to Speight 225 which scored tops for disease resistance with a 4 rating for black shank and a 3 rating for Granville wilt. Here are some other top varieties chosen by Bradley this year for their interest to tobacco growers in his area, and some key performance ratings for those varieties: • NC 71 had a yield of 3,382 pounds per acre and had a grade index of 85. It scored a 19 for disease rating against black shank and had a 31 rating against Granville wilt. • K 326 had a yield of 3,241 pounds per acre and scored a grade index rating of 84. It rated a 34 index score against black shank and a 29 against Granville wilt. • NC 297 had a yield of 3,104 pounds per acre. It had a grade score of 84. NC 297 scored a 23 index rating against black shank and a 23 rating against Granville wilt. • NC 196 yielded 3,097 pounds per acre. It had a grade index score of 84. This variety scored a 10 index rating against black shank and 15 against Granville wilt. • K 346 yielded 2,951 pounds per acre with a grade index score of 83. It had a 13 index raging against black shank and a 17 against Granville wilt. CC 37 scored a rating of 84 for grade index. Contact your local extension agent to obtain complete listings of tobacco variety trait ratings as they performed in the N.C. Official Variety Trials this year. Enditem