Sjemenarstvo, Vol. 13 No. 5-6, 1996.
Professional paper
BREEDING AND PRODUCTION OF WHEAT IN FRANCE
Zdravko Matotan
; Podravka d.d., Koprivnica, Hrvatska
Abstract
With a little over 30 million ha of intensively used agricultural land France is the most important European producer of food, and by the development of its agricultural production one of the most developed countries. Most highly represented agricultural plants are cereals, maize, oil and protein plants, potatoe and sugar beet grown on over one third of the agricultural land. Among them wheat occupies the first place both in quantity and overall production value. In the last five years wheat has been grown in France on aproximately 4.5 million ha, the average yield being a little over 67 dt/ha and the total yearly production value a little over 20 billion francs. Differences in wheat yield between the best and the poorest year were only 4% indicating the high level of production technology, reducing the effects of climate to the minimum. High yields in wheat production are the result of strict complying with the production technology discipline. Cultivar is one of the factors of successful production in Fnance. Wheat improvement is carried out by a great number of breeding institutions, thus in 1995 cultivars from 33 such institutions were tested for acceptance. The newly created cultivars are tested for two years in official trials carried out by the GEVES (Grupe d'etude et de controle des varietes et des semences). From 1991 to 1995 approximately 17 new varieties cultivars were created yearly, which is 23% of the total number of cultivars submitted. The most widely spread cultivar in production was the Soissons. On areas covering more than 5% in some years cultivars Thesee, Recital, Sideral, Scipion and Apollo were also grown. With regard to the most widely spread cultivars the newly recognized varieties cultivars yield on avenage over 5%. In 1994 there were as many as 99 cultivars of wheat in production from 30 companies. French experiences and introduction of French wheat varieties can considerably improve wheat production in Croatia.
Keywords
wheat; France; production; breeding; cultivars; seed production
Hrčak ID:
168668
URI
Publication date:
15.7.1996.
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