Choosing the right tobacco variety can be one of the most critical decisions you make each year. You want varieties that are well-suited to your harvesting operation as well as showing resistance to the disease problems in your fields. Above all, you want plants that will produce top-quality leaf.
To ensure you have all the information you need to make a wise selection, the North Carolina Agricultural Research Service each year conducts tests to obtain performance data on all the commonly planted tobacco varieties, as well as any new ones that have become available.
Five new varieties are introduced for 1998. They are:
They have met the minimum standards for rigid performance tests in agronomic, chemical, physical and smoke characteristics.
The evaluation program attempts to maintain United States tobacco at a quality level that will continue its desirability in world markets. As each new variety comes into the official program, it is screened by a disease committee for resistance to black shank, Granville wilt, brown spot, mosaic and root knot nematodes. The new varieties are also compared with the standard varieties on yield per acre, value per acre, price per pound, and chemical and physical characteristics. Representative tobacco companies and breeders assist in the evaluation.
The participation by developer and user of new varieties effectively combines efforts to release only acceptable varieties for domestic and foreign buyers.
GL 939 This variety has high resistance to both black shank and Granville wilt with additional resistance to root-knot nematodes. It has K 326 as one of its parents. It has excellent curability with a late leaf-ripening rate. It has good mechanical harvesting ability with 19 leaves on a 37-inch stalk. It averages 65 days from transplanting to mid-bloom. It has average yields of mostly medium-bodied orange tobacco.
NC 72 This is an F1 hybrid with excellent resistance to black shank and root knot nematodes and low resistance to Granville wilt. It produces high yields on a 39-inch stalk, averaging 18.6 leaves. It is a full-season variety (late leaf ripening) with excellent curability and good mechanical harvest ability. Leaves are mostly medium-bodied, lemon and orange in color.
Oxford 207 This variety has high resistance to black shank and high resistance to Granville wilt with additional resistance to root-knot nematodes. It produces average yields with nearly 19 leaves on a 37-inch stalk. It has fair mechanical harvest ability; the leaves are fairly close together). Oxford 207 has good curability and averages 69 days from transplanting to mid-bloom. Leaves are medium bodied, primarily orange in color.
Speight 168 It has excellent resistance to black shank and Granville wilt and root knot nematodes. It produces average yields on a 3-foot stalk with good leaf spacing. Leaves ripen at a moderate rate with excellent curability and mostly lemon and orange in color with medium body.
Speight 172 This variety has high resistance to black shank and moderate resistance to Granville wilt and is resistant to root-knot nematodes. It produces excellent yields on a moderate-size stalk. Leaves ripen at a moderate rate with good curability and primarily orange in color and medium body. Leaves are spaced apart at an above-average distance.
Speight NF3 This is a non-flowering variety with six genetic sources in its
pedigree. It has high resistance to both black shank and Granville wilt. It produces average yields
on a moderate-size stalk. Leaves ripen at a moderate rate with good curability and are mostly
orange in color with medium body and texture. The leaves are spaced apart at a moderate
distance.