THE lag time in developing new grain varieties is frequently cited as a hindrance in attracting investment into the grain breeding space.
With up to seven years spent before varieties even hit commercial trials, the time span is simply too long for some industry players to consider investing. However, Tony Slater, research leader of the molecular plant breeding program with the Victorian Government, said the opening of the Plant Phenomics Victoria Centre in Horsham this week could dramatically cut the timeframe of getting a new variety to market.
“Conservatively, it could easily halve the time it takes to get pre-breeding material to plant breeders. We will be able to identify traits that much faster and be able to move forward from the fairly painstaking manual methods where you would only be able to get an annual crossing cycle,” Dr Slater said.
“In this system, we’ll be able to conduct four to six trials each year. This sort of investment is good for the entire plant breeding industry in Australia, especially when combined with other recent initiatives such as the Australian Grains Genebank.” He said the plant phenomics centre would be run by the Victorian State Government, with the material created there then passed on to a range of breeders in both the public and private sectors.