Desert King is a modern durum wheat variety. It was released by the University of California AES in 2005. It was developed by the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) in cooperation with the Mexican Ministry of Agriculture (INIA) and received for testing in California as the cross Inter-11. Its experimental designation was UCD 992050023. It has short stature (similar to Kronos and Kofa, averaging about 38 inches), good straw strength, and medium late maturity (6 days later to head than Kronos). It has a straight peduncle and dense spikes with long awns that turn black at maturity. Glumes are large, white, glabrous with wanting shoulders, short awns, and an acuminate beak. Seed is ovate with rounded cheeks and a long brush. It has good quality, similar to Kronos for protein level, alveograph W values, pasta color and firmness. At the time of release it was resistant to stripe rust, leaf rust, and Septoria tritici leaf blotch, moderately resistant to BYD, and susceptible to powdery mildew. It subsequently has become moderately resistant to stripe rust. It was evaluated as Entry 1375 in the UC Regional Cereal Testing program from 2002-present for

Late Fall Planting

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Particularly suited for:
Central Valley
Imperial Valley

*Lab data below is an average from 2018 harvest