Canberra, Australia
September 17, 2007
Two new varieties of dual-purpose
triticale will offer Australia’s farmers more choice for high
yielding winter crops, the Parliamentary Secretary to the
Minister for Agriculture,
Fisheries and Forestry, Sussan Ley, said today. Ms Ley
launched the new wheat-rye hybrids at the Henty Machinery Field
Days in southern New South Wales today and praised the joint
research effort that developed the plants.
“The two varieties, AT574
and AT528, have been developed cooperatively by the
University of Sydney, the
Grains Research and Development
Corporation (GRDC) and Waratah Seeds Company Limited, under
the programme managed by the Value Added Wheat Co-operative
Research Centre,” Ms Ley said.
“Both offer high yields and strong
disease resistance and will be best suited to the southern and
central slopes of NSW, the NSW southern tablelands and northern
Victoria. “Importantly, the plants are strong performers in dry
conditions and they are resistant to the diseases stem rust,
leaf rust and stripe rust.
“Although industries such as beef
are largely based on grass feeding, substantial quantities of
grain are used in feedlots or to finish grass-fed cattle for the
market. This will continue to increase the demand for quality
feed grain.
“These new hybrids offer even more
choice for farmers and I am sure they will become valuable
varieties for the grains industry.”
Ms Ley congratulated the
University of Sydney’s Jeremy Roake and his research team for
their efforts in developing the varieties.
The Australian Government
contributed almost $51 million to the GRDC in 2006-07. |
