Geraldton quinoa crop shows promise
Geraldton could prove to be a good location to grow the ancient grain, quinoa.
Quinoa has become a popular and fashionable meal component because of its high protein, gluten-free status. It is not a true grain but can be used in similar ways to rice and couscous.
The Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD) has been trialling quinoa, as the lead agency for a research project funded by AgriFutures Australia, at four sites across the state.
2017 is the first year of the Geraldton trial, and the plot was looking very promising.
Shifting the trial from Mingenew and Cunderdin, where temperatures are cooler, to a fertile soil in Woorree, close to the coast, where winter temperatures were warmer, may have made the difference.
Last year’s trials established and grew well, but produced very little seed. By contrast, quinoa at the Woorree site near Geraldton is now in full flower and looks certain to produce good seed yields.
Trial plots have also been sown this year at Eradu, Katanning, Esperance and Manjimup to test different varieties, planting times, sowing rates and herbicide applications.
Three advanced lines of quinoa developed by the department and AgriFutures Australia have been sown, as well as Medusa, the Three Farmers variety grown in Western Australia, and landrace varieties that originated in Chile and Bolivia.
Crop establishment has proven to be a challenge this year, with a number of failed trials.
While the Woorree trial is doing exceptionally well, the trials at Katanning, Esperance and Eradu are looking patchy and the Manjimup trial was only sown in late August so it is too early to tell how it will fare.
The successful plant establishment achieved at the Wooree site is likely to result from the selection of a fertile loam soil, adequate soil moisture at planting and precise placement of seed at a shallow depth.
A glasshouse experiment is in the pipeline to examine the potential factors affecting establishment.
The best yielding quinoa trial in the 2016 National Variety Trials was 2.7 tonnes per hectare, from an irrigated crop at Bool Lagoon in South Australia.
Above average winter temperatures affected the 2016 Kununurra irrigated trial, which produced a top yield of 1.2 tonnes per hectare, compared with the previous year where yields reached 2t/ha.
The Cunderdin site established well in 2016, however, frosts in August and September severely affected flowering and subsequent seed production.
The ‘Quinoa as a new crop in Australia – stage 2’ project will be completed in June next year with the support of DPIRD, the South Australian Research and Development Institute, Northern Territory Department of Primary Industry and Fisheries and New South Wales Department of Primary Industries.
This project is funded by AgriFutures Australia, the new trading name for the Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation.
For more information contact Richard Snowball, Research Officer, South Perth on +61 (0)8 9368 3517.