Australia and New Zealand
December 18, 2007
A production-line of new wheat
varieties for high rainfall zones has been established with most
of the milling wheat varieties being developed through HRZ
Wheats Pty Ltd – a company set up by
AUSGRAINZ and the
Grains Research and Development
Corporation (GRDC).
Chief of CSIRO Plant Industry,
Dr Jeremy Burdon, says the collaboration between Australian and
New Zealand scientists is proving beneficial on both sides of
the Tasman.
“Wheats grown in New Zealand are placed under more disease
pressure so we find that the breeders can generate results much
faster,” Dr Burdon says. ”Screening processes and associated
crosses made in Crop & Food Research’s disease-intensive
nurseries have conferred good resistance to both stripe rust and
leaf rust.”
“The new dual-purpose wheat varieties developed in New Zealand,
in collaboration with the Australian partners, are in demand in
Australia’s higher rainfall zones,”
Crop & Food Research CEO Mark Ward says.He says just as
importantly, trialling of breeding lines in Australia can help
select for those best suited to the Australian environment.
“We find testing can be more efficient by using both climates,
not to mention the advantage of combining scientific expertise.”
Crop & Food Research CEO Mark Ward says that without the degree
of co-operation generated at both the scientific and business
levels through the partnership, New Zealand might not be able to
afford the high standard of grain breeding research currently
being undertaken.
“The new dual-purpose wheat varieties developed in New Zealand,
in collaboration with the Australian partners, are in demand in
Australia’s higher rainfall zones,” he says.
“These dual-purpose wheats can be sown from February to April,
grazed through the cool months and harvested for grain in
summer. They effectively fill an autumn/winter feed gap and have
a high nutritive value, often leading to very good live-weight
gains in livestock.”
The AUSGRAINZ partnership is also working on new durum varieties
that can be grown beyond traditional growing regions due to
traits like salt-tolerance. Durum is normally highly sensitive
to saline soils, limiting the area where it can be grown.
The partnership is flexible and designed to couple expertise
rather than duplicate it, in order to produce better results for
farmers in both countries.
Other news from
GRDC /
from HRZ Wheats Pty Ltd /
from
AUSGRAINZ |
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