The National Oat Breeding Program,
formerly led by the South Australian
Research and Development Institute -
SARDI, the research division
of the Department of Primary
Industries and Regions in South
Australia and WA's Department
of Primary Industries and Regional
Development - DPIRD,
is powering towards its second
successful year, under the
commercial leadership of InterGrain.
Backed by investment including by
GRDC and AgriFutures Australia,
InterGrain is building on SARDI's
two previous decades, to
develop and deliver fit for purpose
oaten grain and hay varieties,
prioritising
growers returns.
Primarily it's yield to start with
making sure that what we're going to
come out is very high yielding and
then we look at quality, so physical
quality, test weight screenings,
making sure it's good for both them
and intrinsic qualities the beta
glucans, etc, that's where genomics
will really come into its own and
make sure that what we're producing
is of a high standard across the
board, across all the package of
traits we breed for.
SARDI raised the value and profile
of Australia's oat production,
securing a strong global reputation
for Australia as a quality oat
producer and exporter.
Now InterGrain is leveraging off
those successes, to fast forward
what SARDI was able to do.
SARDI has really
been responsible for
essentially having input
into the development of virtually
every commercial variety
that's of note today.
So they've really, over that time,
really driven the program, the
delivery of market leading varieties
and also the identification
of the key quality traits
that are going to drive the markets
into the future.
With the industry's sustainability
and profitability goals,
InterGrain is increasing the scale
of oat breeding efficiency
and field testing capacity,
while decreasing variety release
times for faster industry adoption
of improved genetics.
We've been able to effectively
triple the size of the SARDI
breeding program in the space of 18
months, and we're also making sure
that the first stage of selection is
done at a much higher resolution
with many more genotypes.
So that enables us to drive genetic
gain faster, through having a higher
selection intensity and a greater
genetic diversity.
Trial sites just outside York,
feature a snapshot of InterGrains
commercial capacity, to have large
trials of varieties and systems
in place.
So this is Bilby.
Would you agree, Pamela, the premium
semi dwarf variety in Australia?
I would, yes.
We released this in 2019
and very pleased about
its grain yield potential.
Here, a selection of varieties
coming through the breeding program
are showcased, highlighting the
results of using genomics,
the DNA of plants and
innovative speed breeding
technology.
We actually have our glasses set up
to be running at 24 degrees
day and night.
We have full lighting in there,
which basically means that instead
of in the old system, planting a
seed and harvesting it 4 or 5 months
later, we're able to do that in
about 10 or 11 weeks.
So really, again, speeding it all
up.
Dr. Pamela Zwer, a researcher
formerly from SARDI, passionately
acknowledges SARDIS role in shaping
the National Oat Breeding Program,
to what it is today.
In the 26 years that I've been
in this position.
We've released 23 varieties
in terms of the milling varieties,
the prime
varieties would be Motueka,
Williams, Bannister
and now we have two other
varieties that are just have been
released and introduced and
I think that Bilby and
Koala will have
a significant impact.
Indeed, SARDI's program resulted
in oat varieties, accounting for
up to 85%
of the 160,000
tonnes of milling oats
grown in southeastern and in Western
Australia.
The Oaten Hay Breeding Program has
also released varieties such as
Mulgara and Koorabup,
featuring improved yield and
quality.
So Koorabup is a line, is actually
the benchmark for Septoria in
Western Australia. Septoria is the
biggest disease in the west and
this is the benchmark.
It is and all you have to do is
look at the colour as well,
which is an important export
hay trait.
The key part about oaten hay is
there's a lot of diversity comes in
that seems to be quite good for that
space, which brings in a lot of
exciting tolerances, potential
tolerance for disease like Septoria
and Oat Crown Rust.
Again, there's a GRDC project on Oat
Crown Rust, so by leveraging between
the oat grain and the oat
hay program, we will make sure that
there's benefits going forwards in
both directions.
Making sure the trials match growers
local conditions is a key priority,
along with participation in public
research to determine how
international varieties can
be integrated to improve Australian
varieties, as Alan explains.
What I'm standing in here, this is
Bannister, the most widely growing
variety in Australia and this is a
line from Europe.
So this is in the CSIRO led
GRDC funded phenology project.
And what we're trying to do is see
whether there's something that we
can get out of here and put it into
here to make this variety better in
Australia.
As has happened in winter wheat,
where there's been a great
expansion of how much winter wheat
goes into Australia and therefore
more sowing opportunities, we want
to do the same thing in oats.
So can we get these variety
attributes from here, to working
here so we can have sowing in
in February and March?
Oats are a key rotational
crop and well-established as
a stock feed, but the future
is offering additional agronomic
advantages for Australian farming
systems, including comprehensive
expansion into the food industry.
I think there's so much potential
for oats in Australia,
especially since these
days it's not just porridge
that oats are being used for and I
think that's the growth potential,
is that there are going to be new
products that are
eaten, not just at breakfast but at
lunch and at dinner
time and that will grow
the increase in oat production.
The National Oat Breeding Program,
by ensuring that the
growers have access to
competitive varieties, will really
help sure up and drive
the inclusion of oats as a
profitable option for Australian
growers into the future.