Camelina: Genotype and Environment Impacts On Seed Yield In Washington, Oregon, and Idaho.

Biofuel crops should be adapted, productive, pest resistant, low-input and economic to produce, easy to grow, grown with minimum displacement of food crops, and produce useful oil and meal. Camelina (Camelina  sativa L.), a cool season crop in the Brassicaceae family, appears to fit these criteria when grown in the Pacific Northwest (PNW). Having adapted genotypes and determining regions of adaptation for genotypes is critical for success of Camelina in the PNW. Cultivars performance trials were conducted in diverse environments in the PNW at: location, number of trials, and average precipitation: Lind, WA, 5, 228 mm; Lewiston, ID, 1, 355 mm; Pendleton, OR, 5, 421 mm; Pullman, WA, 2, 600 mm; Moscow, ID, 1, 760 mm; and Corvallis, OR, 4, 993 mm. Seven named varieties and 11 experimental genotypes were grown in each replicated trial. Both fall planted and spring planted trials were conducted during the same growing season five times. Spring planted trials yielded more than fall planted at Lind in 2010, and Pendleton in 2009 and 2010, were not different at Lind in 2009, and less at Corvallis in 2009. Average seed yields across cultivars and among years ranged from 127 to 1153 kg ha^-1 at Lind, 832 kg ha^-1 at Lewiston, 730 to 1706 kg ha^-1 at Pendleton, 2965 to 3300 kg ha^-1 at Pullman, 1300 kg ha^-1 at Moscow, and 253 to 1478 kg ha^-1 at Corvallis. Averaged across all trials, the varieties ‘Calena’ and ‘Celine’ yielded 1345 kg ha^-1 and were the highest yielding among cultivars. There was a significant interaction between genotype and environment. Camelina was productive at all locations at least once in these trials and available varieties appear to be adapted to a wide range of environments, but matching genotype and environment for optimum production need further work.