Wheat Cultivar Zhongmai 895 performed high yield potential, good water saving and disease resistance

Wheat cultivar Zhongmai 895, released in 2012 in the Southern part of Yellow and Huai River Valleys, was jointly developed by the Institute of Crop Science (ICS) and Institute of Cotton Research of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences. It is a high yield potential wheat cultivar with good disease resistance, good industry quality with medium gluten strength, good water saving and tolerance to heat stress after flowering. It performs outstanding in multiple locations in 2015.

The grain yield of Zhongmai 895 was 8.66 t/ha in average from 166.7 hectares in Xiaoji county in Xinxiang, Henan province, 11.6% higher than the local leading cultivar Aikang 58, with only one irrigation. It performed outstanding on yield potential and diseases resistance, especially to Fusarium head blight in 2015, when the disease of Fusarium head blight, powdery mildew and leaf rust outbreak.

The grain yield of Zhongmai 895 was 8.93 t/ha in average from 233.5 hectares in Tangfang county in Xingping, Shaanxi province, under a uniform field management environment with high fertilization and full irrigation. Zhongmai 895 had become one of the local leading cultivar in Shaanxi province, planting on 20% and 28% of the field with high fertilization and full irrigation in 2014 and 2015, respectively, due to the outstanding performance in the local area, earned twice high yield record.

Chen Mengshan, the Secretary of the Leading Party Group of CAAS, pointed out that cost saving and efficiency increasing technology should be combined in cultivar extension to prompt farmer’s income and guarantee the security of the national food production, in the field meeting of Zhongmai 895 in Xinxiang, Henan province and Xingping, Shaanxi province.

It is noted that the harvest area of Zhongmai 895 in 2015 has been more than 133 T ha. The cultivar performed wide adaptability, grown well in high fertilization and good irrigation environment in the middle and Northern part of Henan province, Northern part of Jiangsu and Anhui province, and Guanzhong area in Shaanxi province.