Colour bars

Home > Overview > Key achievements

Key achievements

During the year, the GRDC, in collaboration with is research partners, successfully implemented its annual operational plan and responded to the priorities of the Australian Government and Australian grain growers.

  • GRDC facilitated the release of more than 40 improved crop varieties, including
    • sixteen new wheat varieties, some of which have yields up to 15 percent higher than commonly grown varieties
    • four new triticale varieties with wide adaptation and yields up to 30 percent higher than previous varieties
    • one new oat variety, Yallarapatent symbol,with yields 2 percent higher than its predecessor
    • fourteen new canola varieties, some of which have yields up to 10 percent higher than commonly grown varieties
    • one new soybean variety, Fraserpatent symbol, which provides a valuable rotation option for cane growers and is suitable for culinary purposes
  • The Premium Grains for Livestock Program moved from discovery to commercialisation by sublicensing its near-infrared calibrations so as to create a market-place for feed grain that buys and sells on the basis of grain functional quality.
  • Pathways to market through registration and commercial release were mapped for a new stored-grain fumigant.
  • The GRDC won the Ernst & Young Risk Management Award at the NAB Agribusiness Awards for Excellence 2007.
  • An online Farming Practices Database was established at www.grdc.com.au/farmingpractices By showing levels of practices against benchmark data, the database enables growers to compare their productivity and their level of use of certain practices with broader performance.
  • The GRDC developed a common methodology for impact assessments in collaboration with the other rural RDCs. Impact studies of five project clusters (the ACRCP; the Precision Agriculture Initiative; the oats, triticale and durum breeding programs; functional genomics and climate variability) were undertaken, to assess the benefits to industry and the wider community.
  • The GRDC continued to improve the alignment between its activities and the objectives of its key customer groups—Australian grain growers and the Australian Government—and other stakeholders.
  • The GRDC’s Annual Report 2006–07 received a silver award at the Australasian Reporting Awards Fifty-eighth Annual Awards.

Also in 2007–08:

  • The draft national Climate Change Research Strategy for Primary Industries was facilitated by the GRDC and other RDCs, CSIRO, and federal, state and territory governments. The collaborators worked to develop relevant performance indicators and time-lines to implement the national strategy.
  • The Environmental Plan for the Australian Grains Industry was developed by the GRDC in consultation with its industry partners. The implementation of the plan will equip Australian grain growers with the knowledge needed to manage a broad range of environmental challenges—including climate change—while continuing to develop a profitable, progressive and sustainable industry.
  • The GRDC, through its involvement with the Primary Industries Standing Committee, provided strong support for the development of a national strategy for grains RD&E. A nationally agreed and coordinated strategy will be essential to continue to drive productivity and innovation within the grains industry. This strategy is expected to be finalised by mid-2009.
  • Australian grain varieties were screened in Kenya for resistance against the exotic Ug99 stem rust pathogen, through the partnership facilitated by the GRDC between the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) and the Australian Cereal Rust Control Program (ACRCP).
  • Agreement was reached on an industry standard plant breeder’s rights (PBR) licence. The GRDC published a fact sheet on the agreement, and distributed 43,000 copies to industry representatives and grain growers via Ground Cover magazine. This agreement will improve communication about and administration of End Point Royalties.
  • A study of greenhouse gases emitted in the production and delivery of one tonne of wheat to port in south-western Australia was undertaken by Agricultural Research Western Australia partners and the Australian Government Department of Climate Change, with support from the GRDC.
  • Contingency plans for potential incursions of dwarf bunt of wheat, fusarium wilt of canola, barley stripe rust, barley stripe mosaic virus and sunn pest were completed.
  • GRDC-supported NVT planted a total of 570 trials across Australia, which gave growers independent information about how varieties performed in the various regions.
Photo

Fifteen new canola varieties were released in 2007–08.

Back to top