WSU Discovers and Names Perennial Wheat Hybrid

WSU wheat breeding researchers have created a perennial hybrid that mixes wheat and wheatgrass, which should allow yearly crops.

Graduate Research Assistant Colin Curwen-McAdams said they thought it was important to break with a more than 100 year tradition and name this particular creation tritipyrum aaseae.

“By giving this new crop a name we can start to think about what it is instead of what people wish it was.”

By classifying the breed, Curwen-McAdams said they can add clarity and have real conversations about how the crop can help growers.

Perennial wheat has long been a challenge that would permit growers to plant once and yield multiple crops and Curwen-McAdams said they are excited to see what this new variety has in store.

“We think that tritipyrum is something that can be useful in rotational systems and especially it’s going to be very dependent on the environment and the agricultural rotations that it’s in but it has this possibility to offer both grain and forage and provide cover over the winter. All those things are going to shift depending on the environment.”

The variety was named after a WSU Professor Hannah Aase who explored wheat genetics from 1914 to 1949 and will go by the trade name Salish Blue.

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