Leading Australian wheat breeder Enterprise Grains Australia (EGA) has announced a radical new program for the active management of wheat varieties in its portfolio.

Under the program, varieties will be voluntarily withdrawn by each breeder as new, superior varieties become available to growers from their breeding programs.

The program is called ‘Active Portfolio Management’ and EGA has already indicated it would like industry-wide discussion and adoption of its principles and practices.

EGA is a joint venture of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australia, NSW Agriculture, Queensland's Department of Primary Industries and the Grains Research and Development Corporation.

Collectively, the varieties bred by EGA joint venturers dominate the Australian wheat crop, and the active management of their portfolio is likely to have a significantly positive impact on the entire industry.

EGA Director Greg Fraser said APM was a common sense approach to building the value of the wheat industry to growers, marketers and all down stream processors through the progressive and active elimination of inferior varieties as new, superior varieties become available to replace them.

“APM is simply a process of culling out the less productive, poorer grain quality or less disease resistant varieties so that the individual grower’s and the national wheat crop can move forward," Mr Fraser said.

“As new varieties are released, APM will provide good management of our industry.”

Mr Fraser said that as a consequence, EGA was calling on other breeders to join them in voluntary withdrawal of older, inferior varieties, as they are able to launch superior replacements.

Mr Fraser stressed APM was envisaged as a national program, but would apply to the portfolio of each individual breeder who would voluntarily withdraw varieties when they had a replacement from their own breeding program.

“EGA is a great supporter of diversity in our industry and we see APM as a means for breeders large and small to be much more active in portfolio management," Mr Fraser said.

“We want to see APM introduced across the industry to capture the productivity and other benefits of new varieties, with benefits to growers and the wider industry.

“As a wheat industry, we must move on from some of the older varieties, as and when the new varieties are proven.

“EGA also expects the voluntary withdrawal of varieties will be undertaken in a planned manner with lead times that give growers adequate time and seasonal variation to prove replacement varieties.

“We most certainly do not want to see breeders being forced, or growers being levered, into new varieties that are not proven as truly superior.

“However, we do want to see the industry being more active in the management of individual and the national variety portfolio."

EGA has begun its APM program with the co-operation and support of the Department of Agriculture, Western Australian.

Department Director General Graeme Robertson welcomed the advent of APM and said the progressive withdrawal of older soft gained wheat varieties would be made possible by the controlled release of the new soft wheat line, EGA 2248 and the development of further improved varieties in the future.

“EGA 2248 is proven to be superior to these varieties and is being released under a novel program with a limited annual crop area featuring integrated risk management with each grower,” Dr Robertson said.

"The advent of EGA 2248 is being made possible after a very constructive development program involving EGA, the Department, the West Australian Soft Wheat Growers Association and GRDC.

“We are very confident that the novel approach being taken with EGA 2248, linked as it is with Active Portfolio Management, is a very positive step forward for the soft wheat industry in the State."