United Kingdom: Four new spring barley varieties bred from Concerto seen as excellent candidates for next year's Recommended List trials

Four new spring barley varieties bred from the dual-purpose spring malting barley Concerto could become candidates for next year's Recommended List trials, Farmers’ Weekly reported on November, 23.

The varieties are all non-GN (glycosidic nitrile) producers which combine the quality of Concerto with the disease resistance of Quench.

In two years of National List trialling, the new varieties yielded 3-4% more than Concerto, the first major variety since Optic to have a dual usage for both brewing and malt distilling, it is reported.

According to industry observers, at least three of them will become genuine contenders for recommendation on the HGCA spring barley list in 2012/13.

Concerto was only added to the Recommended List in 2009 and it gained its full approval for malt distilling and brewing in June.

The new varieties are an example of the way breeders has been able to speed up the process of breeding with the assistance of biotechnology, experts said.

24 November, 2010