Evaluation of Brassica Juncea, Camelina Sativa and Brassica Carinata in Colorado Environments.

Stable seed production under variable conditions and compatibility with the dominant winter wheat cropping system are keys for successful oilseed crops in Colorado. The objective of this project was to identify the most promising oilseed species and accessions for potential biofuel production. We evaluated 102 accessions of B. juncea, 88 accessions of Camelina sativa, and 39 accessions of B. carinata under irrigated and rainfed conditions in Fort Collins, CO in 2008. A high degree of variation was observed for all the traits, including emergence, maturity, flea beetle tolerance, plant stature, and yield. The maturity of B. juncea was well adapted to the wheat crop rotation and it had the highest seed oil content of the three species; however, it was vulnerable to flea beetle and aphid damage. B. carinata had the largest seed size and highest emergence rate among the three species, but some accessions were very late flowering and therefore were exposed to high temperature stress in the summer. Some B. carinata accessions had very low seed oil content (<20%). C. sativa was free of flea beetle and aphid damage throughout the season and readily fit into the Colorado crop rotation, but had very low emergence and low seed weights, ranging from 0.2 to 1.4 g/1000 seed. Glucosinolate content, a negative quality factor, was high in all B. juncea and B. carinata accessions (>100 µmol/g seeds), but low in all C. sativa accessions (<20 µmol/g seeds). All three species will require significant breeding efforts to make them successful crops in Colorado.