Turf is a category of plant breeding and cultivating all its own. With vastly different growth and priorities than row and vegetable crops, it remains a mystery for some in the industry and a great specialization for others. Don’t just watch the grass grow in 2021, use tips you learn from these four stories to understand this part of the seed industry better.
Picking a Winner: How to Score the Pitch Perfect
European Seed asked several sports grass breeders about their goals and challenges towards breeding ever better grass varieties that can withstand the wear and tear of highly combative players. When asked about the most important breeding goals for sports turf grass, all companies agree that wear tolerance is at the top of the list of their breeding goals.
Players Ready to Play on the Perfect Pitch
The tournament is organized by UEFA, the Union of European Football Associations. They are the governing body of European football, and the umbrella organization of its 55 member associations. UEFA seeks to support its members associations, and their stadiums, for example with the ‘UEFA Guide to Quality Stadiums’, or with the ‘UEFA Pitch Quality Guidelines – Natural turf pitch management’. European Seed sat down with UEFA for their take on how best to maintain a good grass pitch.
How to score the best Kentucky Bluegrass varieties. Poa pratensis, also known as Smooth-stalked meadow grass, Smooth meadow grass and Kentucky bluegrass, is a perennial species that’s among the most popular choices for lawns, golf courses and sports pitches as it guarantees a strong surface. As a cool season grass, it is widely spread over Europe, the cooler regions in North America, many parts in North Asia and some other countries around the world.
Yellow rust (Puccinia striiformis) is the most important disease in P. pratensis, but all breeding companies continue to make progress with resistance within their genetic pools. Some of the secondary disease concerns are summer patch, Leaf spot, Dollar spot, Powdery mildew (in shaded areas), ergot, brown rust, orange stripe rust Helminthosporium fungi and red thread.
