WA and China sign historic plant breeding agreements Thursday, 27 December 2007
Western Australia is on the verge of a plant breeding revolution, following the signing of two historic agreements between WA and Zhejiang University in China.
Agriculture and Food Minister Kim Chance travelled to China last week, to establish a joint research project looking at breeding barley varieties with better acid soil tolerance for WA and China, and the transfer of genetic material between China and WA.
Mr Chance said last week that these agreements offered great hope and potential to both Australian and Chinese farmers as a means of adapting to climate change, soil acidity and developing functional foods with better health outcomes.
"Up until now, Australia's grain breeding industry has had to rely mainly on genetic material derived from the Middle East," he said.
"Under these two agreements, WA will now have access to genetic material previously unavailable outside China.
"By using advanced biotechnology to produce non-GM plant breeding outcomes, WA and China are embarking on an historic collaboration in plant breeding."
The Barley Acid Soil Tolerance project is a collaboration between the Department of Agriculture and Food and Zhejiang University, the headquarters of the China National Barley Research Centre.
The aim of the project is to identify and develop new germplasm to help breed the next generation of barley varieties which have better acid soil tolerance.
The technology is equally applicable to other cereal crops including wheat.
The second agreement on the International Genetic Material Transfer covers 80 wheat and barley lines with low phytic acid being sent to Australia for further evaluation.
As a result, Chinese and Australian plant breeders will have the potential to develop new wheat and barley varieties with improved characteristics for the uptake of nutrients in humans and farm animals.
