Registration of ‘Babe’ Wheat

Soft white wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is the predominant market class of wheat produced in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. Stripe rust (caused by Puccinia striiformis Westend f. sp. tritici) is a major foliar fungal disease problem for wheat cultivars grown in the region. The objective of this research was to develop an adapted soft white spring wheat cultivar with durable resistance to stripe rust. 'Babe' (Reg. No. CV-1071, PI 656791) soft white spring wheat was developed and released in April 2009 by the Agricultural Research Center of Washington State University. Babe was tested under the experimental designations SW01003, S0400016, and WA008039, which were assigned during progressive generations of advancement. Babe is an intermediate-height, semidwarf cultivar adapted to the intermediate-to-high rainfall (>380 mm average annual precipitation), nonirrigated wheat-production regions of Washington. Babe was released based on its (i) partial resistance to the Hessian fly [Mayetiola destructor (Say)], (ii) high-temperature, adult-plant resistance to local races of stripe rust (infection type 0-3), (iii) high grain-volume weight, and (iv) high grain-yield potential in the target production region. Babe has similar or better end-use quality properties than other soft white spring cultivars currently in commercial production.