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The contents of the 2015 Rapeseed Convention, held in Saskatoon, Canada, under the auspices of GCIRC, provided an up-to-date review of rapeseed research and innovation and development perspectives, which may key to understanding the evolutions that will be expressed during the 15th Colza Congress, in Berlin, Germany, in June 2019, in a context marked both by the emergence of new technologies and by changes in market and societal demand.

Since the end of the fifties the main aim of genetics and plant breeding for WOSR was grain and oil productivity to provide unsatisfied markets for oil as well as for animal feeding. In the following periods others objectives were added in the field of product quality and resistance to diseases. After an historical perspective of the crop development and the parallel evolution of breeding technics, we will set a balance sheet of the genetic progress reached. For several years now, breeding objectives are more diverse coming from market diversification, regulations behavior, or societal wishes. Genetics and plant breeding have specifically an important role to play in the field of new plant protection strategies. Today strategies will be carried out to satisfy such aims through wider genetic diversity exploitation, and genotyping and phenotyping methods improvements.

The 12th International rapeseed Congress was held in Wuhan, China (march 2007). Four years after the previous congress organized in Copenhagen, this conference has definitively confirmed the general interest for using rapeseed as raw material for biofuel. It has been a favoured place for making a well-documented point about the possible valorizations of the rapeseed products in food, feed, and non food areas. Last developments in agronomy, crop protection, breeding and biotechnology have been also presented and discussed.

In the current context of boosting production of high erucic acid rapeseed, because of the wide range of its industrial applications, this literature review is designed to provide a general overview of available varieties, current knowledge of plant improvement and paths of developing research to increase competitiveness of varieties with high erucic acid content. A limited market dominated by a few companies, cropping burdens of high erucic acid rapeseed varieties among the majority “00” varieties and the still low erucic acid content in rapeseed, explains the reduced and uncompetitive varietal offers. To improve this situation, new varieties could be developed, thanks to the classical methods of selection and biotechnology.

Nitrogen is a key factor in the sustainable competitiveness of oilseed rape crop and production systems, at the crossroads of economic and environmental stakes. The different research areas to meet these issues are examined, as well as their complementarities.

Broomrapes are parasitic plants without chlorophyll, nutritionally depending from their host plant. Orobanche ramosa L. is a parasite of numerous plants including winter oilseed rape. Its presence has been reported for a long time in the South of France. Nevertheless, its presence became a major problem in the Central West region Poitou-Charentes since the middle of the nineties. The phenomenon is under observation, and research work has been undertaken to evaluate its extension risks and to propose efficient solutions. The main extension factors are its ability to produce seeds, its wide ability to germinate in different environmental conditions, its large number of potential host plants, including common weeds present in cropped fields. Short term recommendations intend to favour the host in the nutritional competition and to limit the soil seed bank. For a longer term, several possibilities could be carried out : optimization of false hosts/trap-crops introduction in the rotation which could decrease the soil seed bank ; and breeding for herbicide resistant plants through mutagenesis or genetic transformation.

En France, le phoma est considéré comme la maladie la plus préoccupante du colza. Il n’existe aucune méthode de lutte à la fois efficace, rentable et respectueuse de l’environnement. Il apparaît donc nécessaire de développer la lutte intégrée de la culture contre cette maladie. Cette communication présente les résultats d’un programme de recherche visant à analyser et à modéliser les effets des systèmes de culture sur le développement de la maladie. Des pistes concrètes pour la mise en oeuvre de la lutte intégrée contre le phoma sont proposées.

Blackeg is the major disease of winter oilseed rape in France. For an efficient control of the disease several tools could be combined, but mainly plant breeding has been used to increase winter oilseed rape resistance to blackleg. A useful step was reached in the nineties, using a specific resistance gene (Rlm1). After being widely used this resistance was broken down by an increase of the virulent sub-populations of the fungus. Such a situation worried the different actors and raised the question of the promotion of a durable management of genetic resistances to Leptosphaeria. After a synthetic presentation of the state of the art in the fields of genetics of resistance, of Leptosphaeria populations and on agronomic practices able to control the pathogen, the promotion of a durable management of resistances is discussed. This target needs to precise the strategy, to improve methodologies to characterise genotypes, to promote proper agronomic practices, to follow Leptosphaeria population behaviour and to motivate economic actors.

Les rendements et les résistances aux maladies de 4 groupes de 5 variétés de tournesol correspondant aux génotypes les plus cultivés en France depuis 1965 ont été comparés sur deux années d’expérimentation : 25 essais “rendements” et 7 essais “maladies”. Les observations ont montré un gain moyen de rendement en grain de 40% pour les 5 variétés cultivées après 1995 par rapport aux 5 variétés cultivées avant 1975, soit une progression moyenne de 33 kg/ha (ou 1,3%) par an, avec une accélération marquée pour les dernières années. L’augmentation du rendement huilier (50%) est essentiellement due, à partir de 1980, au gain de rendement en grain; en effet, la teneur en huile reste stable depuis cette date. Les niveaux de précocité et les tailles sont, en moyenne, les mêmes depuis 30 ans. Par contre les variétés actuelles sont nettement moins sensibles à la verse et aux maladies : réduction de la sensibilité à la verse de 80%, aux attaques de Sclerotinia sur capitule de 60% et de 30% pour les attaques de Phomopsis sur tige. Pendant la première décennie, l’augmentation du rendement est liée à une forte augmentation du nombre de grains à l’hectare. Au contraire, nous observons une augmentation significative du poids de 1 000 grains durant la dernière décennie. Sept essais “rendement” ont été touchés par des attaques parasitaires non négligeables, ce qui a permis de montrer que 25% de l’augmentation du rendement pouvait être expliqué par une augmentation de la résistance à Sclerotinia ou au phomopsis. Ce sont dans les conditions pédoclimatiques du Centre de la France qui donnent de forts potentiels de rendement mais des risques d’attaques parasitaires importants, que les variétés récentes expriment pleinement leur haut niveau de productivité. Les auteurs concluent que, dans un contexte d’une politique agricole soutenant cette espèce, les variétés modernes devraient être adaptées aux régions à fort rendement

Since 1994 several oilseed rape hybrid types were proposed to farmers. Following registration experiments, Cetiom and different equivalent institutions in European Union have tested them in different post registration national networks. Grain yield productivity increases were demonstrated and a first synthesis could be done to check avantages and difficulties which had occurred. For winter types, Hybrid Composits were widely used, mainly in France and in the United Kingdom. Grain yield increases were important in the South and West part of France where their market shares increased up to 50-80%. Nevertheless, many fecondation problems occurred in several places all over Europe. Reasons of such problems were difficult to identify. Several factors, as cold temperatures, nutritionnal competitions, pollen avaibility may be involved to explain low seed sets. Restored Hybrids made with the NPZ hybridation system were successfully tested widely, and has reached significative market shares during 1999-2000 season. Less experiments were carried out with others hybrid types (Ogu-INRA Restored Hybrids, Mixed Hybrids). Ogu-INRA Restored Hybrids reached the highest grain yield levels but users are waiting for lower glucosinolates seed content hybrids which would come in the next future. Performances comparisons among countries have to be done carefully. Productivity increases with hybrid types could have been over estimated depending of pollinic environments or plot size and possible neighbouring effects. For France, results from field trials networks are coherent with results coming from postal surveys. For spring varieties, Polima restored hybrids and varietal associations have demonstrated a significative advantage compared to classical lines.