Causes and Control Methods of Wheat Variety Mixing and Degeneration

Wheat variety mixing and degeneration is a common problem that occurs after elite wheat varieties have been planted multiple times. Once mixed and degenerated, wheat seeds have lower purity, poorer quality, reduced stress resistance, and significantly lower yields. So what causes the mixing and degeneration of wheat quality? And how should it be controlled? Let's find out together.

I. Causes of Quality Mixing and Degeneration

1. Mechanical Mixing

During wheat sowing, threshing, seed drying, and transportation and storage, artificial mixing occurs. This is currently one of the main causes of quality mixing and degeneration in stored wheat.

2. Biological Mixing

Continuous natural hybridization between different varieties in the field leads to undesirable individuals from offspring segregation, which destroys the purity of the variety. This is called biological mixing. When mechanical mixing is severe, it further aggravates biological mixing and accelerates the rate of variety degeneration.

3. Variety Mutation

During the promotion of new wheat varieties, various natural factors can cause certain mutations in wheat. The mutated individuals, however, mostly show deteriorated traits in production.

4. Reasons Related to Wheat Itself

Some new wheat varieties bred by hybridization have unstable traits and low homozygosity. These varieties will continue to segregate during cultivation, producing variant individuals and causing variety mixing and degeneration.

5. Low Quality of Selected and Retained Seeds

In production, if seeds are not selected and retained according to the typical traits of the variety, seed quality will be poor, which can also lead to variety degeneration.

II. Control Methods

1. First, strictly prevent mechanical mixing. At harvest, seeds must be harvested separately, transported separately, dried separately, and stored separately. During seed storage, measures must also be taken against insects, rats, and mold. Before sowing, seeds should be sun-dried and disinfected to ensure excellent seed quality.

2. In the process of breeding improved wheat varieties, isolation measures should be taken to strictly prevent biological mixing. Generally, three isolation methods can be used. The first is spatial isolation, which means planting different wheat varieties at a certain distance apart; the second is temporal isolation, which means staggered sowing dates so that different wheat varieties have staggered flowering periods; the third is barrier isolation, using tall crops, woods, and other barriers so that pollen from different varieties cannot reach the wheat seed production field.

3. When selecting and retaining seeds, strictly remove mixed and inferior plants. In particular, pay attention to removing plants, wheat ears, or grains that do not conform to the typical traits of the variety. At the same time, ears and grains contaminated by pests and diseases, as well as poorly growing plants, should also be removed in time.

The above is an introduction to the causes and control methods of wheat variety mixing and degeneration. We hope it helps you. For more related knowledge, please stay tuned to us.