Texas A&M Wheat Improvement Team recognized
Writer: Kay Ledbetter, 806-677-5608, [email protected]
Contact: Dr. Jackie Rudd, 806-677-5600, [email protected]
AMARILLO – The Texas A&M Wheat Improvement Team was recently honored with a 2015 College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Dean’s Outstanding Award for Interdisciplinary Research.
Three members of the team are located at the Texas A&M AgriLife Research and Extension Center in Amarillo. They are Dr. Jackie Rudd, Texas A&M AgriLife Research wheat breeder; Dr. Shuyu Liu, AgriLife Research small grains geneticist; and Dr. Qingwu Xue, crop physiologist.
Members of the team from College Station are: Dr. Amir Ibrahim, AgriLife Research wheat breeder; Dr. Joseph Awika, head of the Wheat Quality Laboratory; and Dr. Clark Neely, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service state small grains specialist.
“But there were many more on this team than those who were named on the award,” said Rudd. “Each researcher has a team of highly qualified staff and students who work behind the scenes to make this happen.”
The Dean’s Outstanding Achievement Awards are the highest awards in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences presented to faculty, staff and students, according to a letter from Dr. Mark Hussey, vice chancellor and dean of agriculture and life science at College Station.
The TAM Wheat Improvement Team has developed, released and licensed 12 wheat, four oat and two triticale varieties in the past 12 years, according to the nomination.
“A primary measure of success for a breeding program is that producers adopt the new varieties, and by that criterion the TAM breeding program has been very successful. TAM wheat varieties are the most widely grown varieties in Texas and across the Great Plains,” the nomination stated.
In 2012, TAM wheat varieties were planted on 41 percent of Texas, 20 percent of Kansas, 14 percent of Nebraska and 11 percent of Colorado wheat acres, with the total estimated acreage of 5 million.
TAM 111 was the No. 1 planted wheat variety in Texas, Kansas, Nebraska and the Oklahoma Panhandle, Rudd said.
Currently, the most popular TAM wheat varieties developed for Texas and the Great Plains are TAM 111, TAM 112, TAM 113, TAM 304, TAM 305 and TAM 401. The legacy continues with the newest varieties, TAM 114 and TAM 204, which will be commercially planted for the first time this fall, he said.
