Reine.Koppel@metk.agri.ee, Anne.Ingver@metk.agri.ee

Wheat is the largest cereal crop in most of the Nordic-Baltic countries, including Estonia. New productive varieties provide income to the growers, as wheat is also an important export item. At the same time, there is increasing interest among producers and consumers in lesser-known types of wheat in the region, which are more resilient, suitable for specific products (durum wheat) or offer health benefits (einkorn, emmer).

The Centre of Estonian Rural Research and Knowledge (METK) has started research of less common diploid and tetraploid wheat species, both, spring and winter types of these species are studied.

Winter types. We started in 2020 with 2 einkorn and 5 emmer varieties. All the genotypes survived the winter conditions well. Winter hardiness is the most critical feature for winter types. The average yield was 3.8 for einkorn and 3.6 t/ha for emmer. Since 2022 the number of einkorn and emmer genotypes has increased.

There were 33 einkorn genotypes in the trial, winterkill depended on the trial location – einkorn and emmer had lower winter damage levels in warmer and drier soils. Older genotypes had problem with lodging resistance, less lodging was estimated for newer varieties. Disease infection rates were low.

Fewer varieties of winter durum wheat have been studied so far. Winterhardiness has been in average level, depending on the variety. Winter durum also had good lodging resistance and length of growing period.

Spring types. In the case of spring types, one of the most important characteristics in northern conditions is the suitable length of the growing period. Three durum and one emmer variety have been tested since 2021 in our trials.

The both types had more than 30% lower yield compared to the standard common wheat variety. Spring emmer had longer growing period, taller plants, smaller kernels, better disease resistance, and higher gluten content but softer gluten. Durum varieties had bigger kernels and higher protein content.

This study was financed by the Estonian Rural Development Plan 2014–2020: METK 7-2.1/36 project "Growing single grain wheat in Estonia and diversifying the use of wheat and rye" and the Center of Excellence "Agroecology and new crops in future climates" funded by the Ministry of Education and Research of Estonia.