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Contamination of edible double‐low oilseed rape crops via pollen transfer from high erucic cultivars
Author(s) -
Bilsborrow P E,
Evans E J,
Bowman J,
Bland B F
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
journal of the science of food and agriculture
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.782
H-Index - 142
eISSN - 1097-0010
pISSN - 0022-5142
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1097-0010(199801)76:1<17::aid-jsfa903>3.0.co;2-9
Subject(s) - erucic acid , pollen , cultivar , contamination , agronomy , biology , crop , environmental science , horticulture , brassica , botany , ecology
Contamination of double‐low oilseed crops with pollen from high erucic varieties grown primarily on set‐aside land may result in erucic acid concentrations above 2% resulting in its rejection as a double‐low edible oilseed. An analysis of cross contamination between high and low erucic acid crops was carried out in field trials at Cockle Park, and Purley Farm, Essex in the 1992–1993 and 1993–1994 seasons. Contamination was generally low and at random across the test areas. This random fluctuations in erucic acid concentrations appeared to be due to insect activity rather than wind mediated pollen transfer. Roto‐rod traps used at Cockle Park to measure pollen flow downwind from isolated blocks of oilseed rape showed that in both seasons a rapid exponential decline in pollen concentration occurred with distance from the source. Results presented in this study would suggest that contamination between edible and high erucic crops does not present a major problem under field scale cultivation. © 1998 SCI.