"A Great Wheat Competition has begun," the managing director of the Grains Research & Development Corporation (GRDC), John Lovett, told graingrowers today at Grains Week, the annual general meeting in Melbourne of the Grains Council of Australia.

"From now on, three major GRDC-supported wheat breeding ventures will compete nationally to produce the best, regionally-adapted but world-competitive, wheats for the market. While some final adjustments remain to be made, negotiations between the respective shareholders and joint venturers have been completed," Professor Lovett said.

He said graingrowers had been involved in setting this exciting agenda, which was announced in Perth three years ago, when the GCA and GRDC jointly agreed key principles and outcomes for future wheat breeding investments. This led to three years of planning and negotiations.

"The process began at Grains Week in Perth in 1999 and, I am delighted to say, reaches its conclusion at this Grains Week meeting in Melbourne in 2002.

"Growers throughout Australia’s $5.7 billion wheat industry will be the winners, as heightened competition between breeding ventures will result in the production of more and better wheat varieties faster, and more economically.

"Breeders and scientists will also benefit from having opportunities and career paths in well-resourced, world class organisations that have a vision for Australian technology and intellectual property in global agriculture.

"The three GRDC-supported ventures will compete in a dynamic commercial marketplace that includes recent entrants like LongReach Plant Breeders of AWB Limited/Syngenta, and Grain Biotechnology Australia."

Professor Lovett said investments in the three ventures would replace the GRDC’s support of Australia’s eight current, mainly state-based, breeding programs.

Growers and the Federal Government, through the GRDC, would commit significant resources to the new joint ventures, which will receive additional inputs from the other joint venturers – expected to total more than $100 million over the next five years.

Professor Lovett announced that the three ventures are:

• Australian Grain Technologies Pty Ltd involving the South Australian Research and Development Institute (SARDI), the University of Adelaide and the GRDC;
• the National Wheat Breeding Program (NWBP), a joint venture involving NSW Agriculture, the WA Department of Agriculture, Queensland Department of Primary Industries and the GRDC, and
• SunPrime Seeds Pty Limited, established as a plant breeding and seed marketing company – and now involving GrainCorp Operations Limited, The University of Sydney and the GRDC.

Professor Lovett said that, in line with growers’ expectations, the GRDC expected each of the joint venture partners to demonstrate that they could bring to their new breeding programs:

• research capacity;
• infrastructure and skills;
• global and domestic research linkages;
• germplasm and biotechnology;
• a commitment to the development of Australia’s human capital in plant breeding;
• links to investors or commercial partners;
• a forward vision of globally competitive science, and
• a commitment to the Australian wheat industry.

According to Professor Lovett, the benefits of the three new joint ventures will include:

• faster production of new and improved varieties;
• increased varietal choice for growers;
• greater efficiencies in wheat breeding through the consolidation of breeding programs into fewer market-focused programs;
• access to, and capture of, intellectual property to ensure valuable IP is not lost to Australia;
• improved opportunities and retention of Australia’s best scientists in locally-owned, world class organisations, and
• greater competitiveness in world markets and the opportunity to value-add to wheat products.

"Individual companies will release details of their structures and operational plans over the coming weeks," Professor Lovett said.

"The GRDC is a long-term investor in wheat breeding and we will assess the performances of these investments over time against the objectives set for maximum grower benefits."

For further information, please contact:

• Professor John Lovett, Managing Director, GRDC on (02) 6272 5525
• Kerrie Gleeson, SunPrime Seeds on (02) 6881 6210 - kgleeson@sunprimeseeds.com 
• Murray Rogers, Chairman, National Wheat Breeding Program on 0419 534 005
• Ron Storey on 0418 332 431
• Ross Andrews, GRDC Corporate Communication Manager, on 0419 464 579