A novel variety management strategy for precision farming

In the Northern Caucasian region the development and deployment of improved varieties and fanning systems has lead to increased winter wheat yield and yield-stability. A key element of this success has been an integration of strategies aimed at increasing economic returns to wheat growers through improved crop management and more optimal matching of varieties and management. Advice is provided to farmers based on their planned level of expenditure on inputs such as fertilizer and pesticides, projected income, the scale of their enterprise, and the production system they will use which is greatly influenced by their level of mechanization. Integration of this information is used to assist them in selecting the best mix of varieties for their farm. To manage risk and account for year-to-year variation caused by genotype by environment interaction, between 3 and 6 winter wheat varieties best suited to their enterprise will be chosen based on long term data Development of an Agrotechnological Varietal Passport for each variety is an important toot used in the matching of varieties to farm enterprises. The Varietal Passports outline data on the relative performance of varieties following different preceding crops, adaptation to different environment types, optimal sowing date, growing period, pest and disease responses, resistance to abiotic stresses, inherent grain quality characters, suitability for machine harvesting (determined by lodging and shedding resistance), optimal sowing rate, mineral fertilizer requirement, genotypepesticide response and typical gross margins Our novel variety management policy is based on crop pre-adaptation, considering poor long-term climate predictability, and our target that a variety should cover not more than 15% of the region's sowing area. This variety management policy has allowed the benefits of ongoing scientific advances in both improved varieties and management practices to be captured by the farmers of the Krasnodar region. Over the last two decades a consistent rise of winter wheat yield over the more than one million hectares in the Krasnodar region has increased mean yields from 3.3 t ha(-1) to 4.6 t ha(-1).