Investments in grains research projects of $110 million during 2002/03 have been announced by the Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC).

According to the GRDC’s Managing Director, Professor John Lovett, most of the 2002/03 investments will be in crop improvement and crop protection projects and those associated with the development of profitable and sustainable farming systems.

"However, there will also be significant investments in the GRDC’s new Value Chain and Product and Service Delivery programs," Professor Lovett said.

"The scope of the Value Chain program includes market intelligence; grain storage, transport and handling logistics; grain quality management; and new grain products," he said.

"Investment in new grain products aims to support the development of new food, feed, health and industrial products that will improve grower margins through exploitation of market opportunities.

"The Product and Service Delivery Program is also new and will improve the economic and environmental performance of the grains industry by accelerating the adoption of research outcomes and innovations."

Investments in grains research are made possible by levy contributions from graingrowers, with matching funds from the Federal Government.

Professor Lovett said that in 2002/03 the GRDC would also be targeting:

• The development of cereal germplasm tolerant to frost and to other grain quality defects including pre-harvest sprouting.
• Biotechnology research including that associated with the Australian Centre for Plant Functional Genomics, development of molecular markers for a range of traits in various crops, and gene transfer work.
• Investments in new wheat breeding entities.
• Continuing research into better ways to control a range of crop pests including snails, slugs and mice.
• A soil biology strategic initiative to better understand interactions between crop roots and soil microorganisms so that beneficial organisms could be used to improve crop performance.
• Support for Farming Systems Groups which were leading the way in making graingrowing more profitable and sustainable.

Professor Lovett said the GRDC’s investment priorities reflected those of its graingrower stakeholders.