Impact of agronomic factors on seed yield formation and quality in flax

Abstract

. 2008. Impact of agronomic factors on seed yield formation and quality in flax. Can. J. Plant Sci. 88: 485Á500. Flaxseed is known to have significant health benefits in human nutrition and when included in animal rations. There is pressing need to improve flaxseed production to meet the growing demand. The objective was to study the effects of three seeding rates (22, 45 and 67 kg ha(1 ), two seeding dates (early May and late May), three rates of nitrogen (66, 100 and 133% of recommended) and three cultivars (Norlin, AC McDuff and CDC Valour) and at five locations representative of the flax-growing area of the Canadian prairies from 1999 to 2001. The variables of interest were plant density, seed yield and yield formation, seed oil content and oil quality. Plant establishment was always highest with Norlin, but bolls m (2 was similar between the three cultivars. Plant density was always highest with the later plantings. No overall effect of seeding date was observed on grain yield, but the site-year by seeding date interaction showed that the later planting was favoured by the most northerly sites and early planting at the most southerly sites. The sites intermediate in latitude showed little response to seeding date. This finding provides important information with respect to the inclusion of flax in cropping systems depending on the latitude and deciding on the order of planting. Later planting resulted in a small decrease in oil content. Seed yields were increased with seeding rates going from 22 to 45 kg ha (1 with little effect on seeds boll (1 . Seeding rate had no effect on seed oil quantity and quality and maturity. A seed yield increase was observed with nitrogen when going from 66 to 100% of the recommended rate with no increases past 100%. Adding nitrogen resulted in a small drop in seed oil content. The seeding date )nitrogen rate interaction revealed a lack of response to nitrogen with the later planting date beyond 66% of the recommended N rate, suggesting reduced nitrogen rates with later plantings are possible. The absence of a site-year by seeding date by nitrogen rate interaction implies that findings of this study can be applied to a wide geographical area. In conclusion, attention needs to be given to seeding rates to target plant density !300 plants m (2 . Even with the high seeding rates, the target plant population was achieved only 60 and 73% of the time for the early and late planting, respectively. Using soil test recommendations for nitrogen will maximize seed yields under most situations. Best agronomic practices to maximize seed yield were found to maintain adequate seed oil quality and quantity.Key words: Linum usitatissimum L., nitrogen rate, seeding rate, seeding date, cultivar Lafond, G. P., Irvine, B., Johnston, A. M., May, W. E., McAndrew, D. W., Shirtliffe, S. J. et Stevenson, F. C. 2008. Impact des facteurs agronomiques sur le rendement grainier et la qualite´du lin. Can. J. Plant Sci. 88: 485Á500. On sait que le lin a d'importants bienfaits pour la sante´en nutrition humain...

Impact of production practices on fiber yield of oilseed flax under Canadian prairie conditions

“…It is widely accepted that smaller stems are more likely to ret uniformly and this is another potential benefit to increasing seeding rate. Increasing seeding rate did not significantly increase seed yields; this lack of response is similar to previous results (Albrechtsen and Dybing 1973;Gubbels and Kenaschuk 1989;Stevenson and Wright 1996;Lafond et al 2008). The smaller stems and higher fibre yield resulting from higher seeding rates indicate that seeding rate should be increased if the value of the extra fibre exceeds the cost of the seed.…”

“…Our results differed from those of Lafond et al (2008), who found early seeding increased linseed seed yields in more southerly areas with later planting being favoured in more northerly areas Thompson et al (1988) also found that earlier seeding improved flax yields North Dakota. The lack of seed yield reduction noted in this study may be due in part to the colder than normal weather occurring in 2004 (Table 1), which would make the climate for our sites similar to that of the northern areas reported by Lafond et al (2008). We found that fibre content and available yield were higher for the later seeding dates (Tables 2 and 3) resulting in a 170 kg ha (1 , or 53%, increase in fibre yield.…”

“…In a recent study, early seeding increased linseed seed yields in more southerly areas, while later seeding had higher yields in more northerly areas (Lafond et al 2008). In North Dakota, seed yields of a range of cultivars declined as seeding date was delayed until June (Thompson et al 1988).…”

“…Seeding rates greater than the recommended rates of 400Á600 seeds m (2 did not affect seed yield (Gubbels and Kenaschuk 1989;Lafond et al 2008;Stevenson and Wright 1996). or produced a small increase (Hanson and Lukach 1990;Lafond 1993).…”

Environmental and varietal impact on linseed composition and on oil unidirectional expression process

“…However, plants are cultured in different environments where they are exposed to various climate conditions and soils conditions with a direct repercussion on the seed filling and its final composition (Dilman and Hopper, 1943;Dybing et al, 1966;Kirkhus et al, 2013;Lafond et al, 2008;Painter et al, 1944;Westcott and Muir, 2003). In fact, several factors comprising temperature, rainfall, light, drought, ozone exposure, nitrogen deprivation, fertilizers may influence the nutritional quality of oilseeds (Baldini et al, 2002;Flagella et al, 2002;Green, 1986;Harris et al, 1978;Rahimi et al, 2011;Tripathi and Agrawal, 2013).…”