East Kew, Victoria
May 15, 2007
Wheat breeder
Enterprise Grains Australia (EGA) has resumed its search for
a commercial partner to support a national wheat breeding
program that accelerates the delivery of superior varieties to
Australian farmers.
The announcement follows Australian company
Pacific Seeds’
decision to withdraw from alliance negotiations with EGA – a
collaboration between the
Queensland Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries,
the New South Wales
Department of Primary Industries and the
Grains Research and Development
Corporation (GRDC).
In December last year EGA named Pacific Seeds as its preferred
commercial partner after inviting expressions of interest from
companies sharing EGA’s objective to deliver elite varieties to
growers, with a focus on wheat regions in New South Wales and
Queensland.
EGA Chairman Professor Beth Woods said EGA intended to forge a
relationship with alternative parties after Pacific Seeds
revealed its decision to allocate resources to other projects.
“EGA is looking to license germplasm to ensure the wheat
industry, particularly in eastern Australia, is serviced into
the future with a stream of new, competitive varieties,”
Professor Woods said.
“The licensing of germplasm will allow the EGA partners to focus
on strategic investments in pre-breeding aimed at developing
important agronomic and quality traits.”
EGA’s germplasm pool meets the elite Australian Prime Hard and
Australian Hard targets, complying with both international and
domestic market requirements. It is well placed to satisfy
emerging global demands for food.
“Of the eight million tonnes of wheat produced in eastern
Australia annually, the EGA partners’ varieties currently
constitute 50 per cent of that production. EGA is in the
process of releasing three new varieties that offer an increased
spectrum of disease resistance, improved yield and quality
traits,” Professor Woods said. “A commercial partnership will
bolster the uptake of these varieties.”
Pacific Seeds indicated it would continue to be a significant
and competitive supplier of planting seed to the Australian
wheat industry through strategic alliances with wheat breeding
entities, and is committed to aggressively promoting its current
range of EGA products – EGA Wylie, EGA Wentworth, EGA Gregory,
EGA Burke and EGA Wills. |
