Christchurch, New Zealand
December 7, 2005
New premium-quality bread wheats are the aim of a new joint
venture partnership between
Luisetti Seeds and Crop &
Food Research.
This arrangement formalises a
strong breeding partnership and will strengthen the local wheat
industry, says Vincent Luisetti of Luisetti Seeds.
“New Zealand growers rely on
wheat cultivars selected for local conditions because they are
more robust and are often less susceptible to stripe rust,
Septoria and brown rust than wheats sourced internationally.”
Crop & Food Research’s Cropseed
manager, Sam White, says the partnership will breed finished
cultivars for the domestic milling market.
“In recent times, Crown funding
has been directed towards longer term goals – developing new
genetic traits for ‘tomorrow’ rather than finished cultivars
required by growers and millers ‘today’.
“Luisetti’s funding complements
that from the New Zealand Flour Millers’ Association and Crop &
Food Research’s reinvestment of cultivar royalties,” he says.
Ashburton Grain Consolidators
Ltd will be contributing financially and sub-contracting to
Luisetti Seeds to market the new cultivars. |