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Output Group 3 - New Products

CSIRO’s Dr Matthew Morell, Food Futures Advanced Genetics theme leader, says that by 2015 Australia could be growing wheat varieties with additional health benefits. Photo: Rebecca Thyer

The New Products output group targets opportunities both pre-farm gate and post-farm gate, by investing in research, development and commercialisation in new grain products and new farm products and services, providing growers with additional options in farm management and marketing.

To achieve its objective, the output group actively identifies national and international technology relevant to the Australian grains industry; builds partnerships to develop products and services and deliver them to growers; undertakes product development to meet market requirements; and develops robust business cases that demonstrate the market demand for and value of any product or service that the GRDC and its partners propose to invest in.

Table13 summarises the achievements of the New Products output group against its performance measures for 2007–08 and its objectives and strategies for 2007–12. The following sections describe some of the results of the output group’s investments during the year.

Post-harvest grain hygiene

Post-harvest grain hygiene is an area of the GRDC portfolio that will increase in importance as more grain growers decide to keep larger volumes of grain on-farm for longer to gain better prices in future markets.

In 2007–08, the GRDC signed a contract with the Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) for National Plant Biosecurity to ensure:

a national agenda on post-harvest grain hygiene is developed
information and research gaps are identified and filled
a whole-of-industry approach is adopted
grain hygiene receives the R&D focus it will need for grain growers to successfully compete, in the short to medium term, in the volatile grain markets.

The GRDC has moved its existing grain hygiene projects into a new CRC program called Post-Harvest Integrity. A strategic gap analysis of the areas of R&D was undertaken, and new projects are being proposed and scrutinised by the CRC Scientific Advisory Committee and the Post-Harvest Integrity Advisory Committee.

New industrial uses for grains

Nanoparticles

The GRDC and the University of Sydney delayed the start of their planned Nanoparticles project until March 2008, due to drawn-out intellectual property negotiations. A start was made on the research to determine the best crop from which to extract high-quality nanoparticles, as well as the process of extraction that will maintain the nanoparticle quality.

Biofuels

The GRDC is working with CSIRO on a biomass mapping project to compare the pros and cons of biomass ethanol production and other crop uses in a number of regional areas. The project will report on the following issues:

Energy efficiency-can grain growers make further efficiency gains in their fuel use?
Energy self-sufficiency-which areas in Australia have the potential to become self-sufficient in their fuel requirements?
Energy production-what potential exists for grain growers to use their crops or crop by-products for bioenergy?
Synthesis of other energy production opportunities -what bioenergy production opportunities for grain growers, other than those based on cereal stubble, lie beyond biofuel production?

Crop Biofactories Initiative

The mission for the Crop Biofactories Initiative (CBI) is to enable a versatile and sustainable crop biofactories industry in Australia. This mission is to be realised through a three-stage R&D and commercialisation program over about 12 years- stage 1 is to develop proprietary platform technologies and achieve proof-of-concept production of these in model plants; stage 2 is to achieve economic production in selected crop plants and draw licensees and stakeholders into the investment; and stage 3 is to develop appropriate supply chains and obtain regulatory approval, market the products and ensure their adoption.

The first stage of the mission, to develop proprietary platform technologies and achieve proof-of-concept production in model plants, was completed in 2007–08. The CBI developed a portfolio of proprietary technologies enabling an Australian crop biofactories industry which:

is applicable to a range of Australian broadacre crops
addresses large and growing segments of the global chemical industry
can produce many new products within these segments
can produce new products having sufficient value and volume to
- offset up-front developmental and regulatory costs
- increase farm gate values
- justify widespread planting
- withstand any additional processing costs
- avoid major regulatory and consumer sensitivities over segregation of bioactives from the food chain.

The CBI team is now well positioned to move into the second stage of the program. A decision to use safflower as the platform crop has also been made.

New grain food products

High-amylose wheat

Since signing a high-amylose wheat joint venture agreement with CSIRO and Groupe Limagrain, establishing Arista Cereal Technologies Pty Ltd, the GRDC has been assisting the company to successfully commercialise a product. The major output in 2007–08 was the engagement of the Arista Board and scientific advisers with potential international commercial partners, who are currently testing the high-amylose wheat product in their laboratories.

Omega-3

CSIRO researcher, Dr Mike O’Shea leads one of the CBI teams. One of the chemical groups being studied, is the acetylenic fatty acids, which can be used in inks and change colour according to temperature. Photo: Nick Pitsas, CSIRO

In 2007–08, the GRDC signed on to a program with the CSIRO Food Futures Flagship to leverage the large amount of breakthrough work that CSIRO has done in the area of Omega-3 fatty acids. The GRDC is focusing on the specific development of a docosahexaenoic acid (DHA)–producing Omega-3 canola that will add value to the canola sold by Australian farmers.

Coeliac-friendly beer

The coeliac-friendly beer project reached a significant milestone in 2007–08 when it proved that a very low-gluten beer can be brewed. Although the low-gluten beer product is good enough to enter international markets, the Australian market requires a ‘nil’ gluten level. A business case outlining the opportunity that this product will provide for the Australian grains industry was submitted to and accepted by the GRDC.

Go Grains

The GRDC continued to support Go Grains Health and Nutrition Ltd (Go Grains) as it delivered consumer information materials, educational resources and media campaigns to promote the nutritional and health benefits of grains and legumes, reinforced by a substantial database of sciencebased information about grains and health. Go Grains also made technical submissions to government on food regulatory issues, developed industry positions on nutrition issues, and promoted public health recommendations relevant to foods made from grains and legumes.

Feed grain

Premium Grains for Livestock Program

The Premium Grains for Livestock Program (PGLP) moved from discovery to commercialisation in 2007–08. The Pork CRC entered into a business relationship with the GRDC to sub-license the near-infrared calibrations created in the PGLP to commercial parties. This is a significant step in creating a marketplace that buys and sells on grain functional quality (aspects relevant to a specific livestock sector rather than export milling quality).

Feed Grains Partnership

The Feed Grains Partnership held its first meeting in 2007–08, in Melbourne, bringing together all parts of the feed grain supply chain to discuss issues needing urgent R&D attention. Some of the main issues raised related to:

creating a more efficient supply chain
improving the productivity of grain growing
enhancing the drought resilience of grain growers and livestock producers.

The Feed Grains Partnership has facilitated communication between rural R&D corporations with interests in these projects and provided opportunities for collaborative funding and shared outcomes.

C A S E S T U D Y : Promoting healthy eating through Go Grains

A key role of Go Grains (Go Grains Health and Nutrition Ltd) is to increase the value of the Australian grains industry by influencing the decisions consumers make about the foods that they buy. Go Grains communicates the latest information about grains and nutrition to target audiences such as health professionals; teachers; representatives of industry, government and the media; grain growers; and members of the general public.

Consumption of grain-based foods is encouraged by Australian dietary guidelines, but constantly challenged in the marketplace by the influence of heavily marketed diets (such as high-protein/low-carbohydrate diets and diets focused on the glycaemic index) and the promotion of other food groups (such as meat and dairy). Research shows that the majority of Australians do not consume the recommended daily intake of grains.

Consistent with the healthy eating guidelines, Go Grains has launched an awareness-raising campaign to promote the benefits of a regular daily intake of grain-based foods, based on the message of ‘4+ Serves a Day’. The new message was launched in October 2007 by Senator Brett Mason, the then Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Health and Ageing. He was supported by Professor Linda Tapsell, Director of the National Centre of Excellence in Functional Foods, and Ms Trish Griffiths, Executive Manager of Go Grains Health and Nutrition Ltd.

The new message is branded by a logo that is available for Go Grains’s member companies to use on their packaging, and accompanied by a promotional package that includes a ‘Grains Info Line’ and ‘4+ Serves a Day’ brochure.

The new method will potentially provide the grains industry with a significantly faster and more accurate way of testing damaged grain, saving time at receival depots and reducing contention over test results.

In 2007–08, a new project began in Western Australia to develop the next generation of nearinfrared and mid-infrared optics. Infrared has wide application in agriculture, with uses in soil, plant tissue and grain testing. However, full utilisation of the technology has been curtailed by the high price, lack of robustness and large size of current infrared instruments. This project leverages the University of Western Australia’s recent breakthroughs in this field, through which infrared optics have been reduced to the size of a computer chip for military applications. Applying similar technology to agricultural applications will potentially lead to a new generation of infrared instruments that are smaller, cheaper and more robust.

Soil biology

Trials conducted in the 2007 season showed positive yield benefits of inoculation. Photo: Philom Bios (Australia)

Philom Bios (Australia) Pty Ltd

The Philom Bios (Australia) Pty Ltd joint venture progressed the field testing of a range of growth promotion and disease control microbes sourced from both Australian and North American research programs in the 2007–08 season. Despite another difficult year for trialling, due to the effects of the drought, the joint venture was able to get sufficient encouraging trial data to support an expansion of the work in the 2008 season.

Nitrogen fixation

In Australia, the use of nitrogenous fertilisers has been calculated to be increasing at an annual rate of 14 percent since the early 1990s. The Haber–Bosch synthetic process, which uses large amounts of fossil fuels, accounts for the vast majority of nitrogenous fertiliser production. The increasing economic and ecological costs of fossil fuels, together with the increasing demand for organically grown (or at least sustainably produced) agricultural and horticultural products, have rekindled interest in biological nitrogen fixation. The GRDC supported a scoping study in 2007–08 to address these issues.

The dominant form of biological nitrogen fixation, symbiotic nitrogen fixation (as a result of the relationship between rhizobial bacteria and legumes), is well understood in the farming system. However, there are critical gaps in the knowledge of biological nitrogen fixation, particularly non-symbiotic nitrogen fixation (NSNF), at the local, regional and global levels.

The GRDC sponsored a workshop to discuss the current knowledge in this area and the potential for Australian farming systems to benefit from it. This was followed up by an extensive literature review to confirm how and where NSNF occurs in Australian (and world) cereal paddocks. As part of understanding current knowledge, the scoping study reviewed Australian long-term trial sites (as possible sites for future NSNF work), reviewed commercial products which are claimed to fix nitrogen, and attempted to identify anecdotal examples where NSNF claims were made.

Key knowledge gaps were identified in the following areas:

the potential contribution from nitrogen fixation systems associated with cereals and canola (via the living crop), and the contribution and management of cereal and canola stubble for non-legume nitrogen fixation
the most effective measurement methods or combinations of methods
the contribution and potential contribution of plant breeding to enhance or inhibit components of nitrogen fixation
the value and management of Australian cereal rotation systems to utilise nitrogen fixation opportunities.

Export opportunities

Following the success of the Taiwan Noodle project which sought to identify ideal Australian wheat varieties for the production of premium quality noodles, the New Products portfolio adopted a new strategy theme focused on developing technologies or knowledge that provide or define a unique selling advantage for Australian grain in key export markets—in particular, new projects that have the potential to increase Australia’s market share in Asian markets.

As part of the due diligence process for a project to develop a hybrid baking process, due to commence in the 2008–09 financial year, a series of visits were made to Asian bakers, millers and other manufacturers. While the initial goal was to identify potential partners for the hybrid baking project, the visits also identified a number of new opportunities for future research projects. These are being assessed and prioritised for presentation to the GRDC Board.

Use of beneficial microbes in broadacre agriculture

The turnover of the microbial supplement and inoculant industry in Australia is estimated to be in excess of $10 million per year at the retail level. Except for rhizobial inoculants, there are no recognised industry regulations to provide a guarantee to growers that the products they buy are effective or even what they claim to be. With a number of new and potentially significant products in development, the industry is likely to grow rapidly in the next five years, with considered estimates of between $20 million and $40 million in sales by 2012. Part of this growth is likely to come from products developed within GRDC-funded projects.

A strategy paper presented to the GRDC Board in 2007–08 outlined the specific needs and highlighted the opportunities for the GRDC to provide leadership in the path forward for this industry.

In particular, the paper recommended that the GRDC:

support the development of self-regulation in the microbial inoculant industry and encourage the establishment of an industry association
support product quality by using the independent testing provided by the Australian Legume Inoculant Research Unit (ALIRU)
fund the ALIRU in the short to medium term, until the industry has sufficient resources to provide full support
support tested quality products through promotion and education, and encourage industry funding for them
ensure that scientific research funded in this area is consistent with the needs of growers and the formulation industry, by consulting these groups
consider evaluating field efficacy of products in the medium to long term, following the implementation of quality testing by ALIRU
encourage the microbial manufacturers group to model their organisation on, and align themselves with, one of the international groups, such as the International Bio-Pesticide Manufacturers Association.

Subsequent meetings with the key manufacturers in this sector garnered support for the formation of an industry association. Collaboration between industry parties has begun, and the formal launch of the new organisation is expected to occur in late 2008.

Novel pesticides

A GRDC-supported project is looking at developing novel chemicals/products that are effective against key Australian insect pests like the Rutherglen bug. Photo: Melina Miles, QDPI&F

A portfolio of projects focused on developing novel products that are effective against key Australian insect pests, weeds and diseases has been formed in the GRDC’s New Products line of business.

While some existing projects were moved from the Practices line of business and are now moving into a commercial phase, others are still in the very early stages of research.

The development of new pesticidal actives is a high-risk activity, and the projects are specifically tailored to address the risks. Maximum financial leverage is sought in early stages of projects to minimise exposure and increase opportunities.

As a project is progressed, commercial partnerships are sought to ensure the path to market is clearly defined.

In 2007–08, the ‘integration of biopesticides into integrated pest management against sucking pests’ project entered its final phase, and negotiations began with a suitable partner to commercialise the products: a range of microbial actives for the control of mirids, thrips and Rutherglen bug. Independent advice was sought to check the appropriateness of trial designs in terms of the collection of suitable data for pesticidal registration. A high level of GRDC interaction with the project is needed in the final phase.

Instrumentation

The instrumentation theme in New Products centres on developing and commercialising innovative instrumentation technologies to provide faster, cheaper, more accurate and/or more quantitative measurement tools for the grains industry, in particular for on-farm use.

The Objective Grain Quality Testing project recently produced a replacement for the falling number test used to assess rain-damaged grain.

Research team members of a large Taiwan-based food company evaluate the texture of noodle samples. Photo: Ken Quail

C A S E S T U D Y : Developing soft products to achieve hard results

More than five years ago, Dr Carrie Hauxwell and her team at the Queensland Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries were given the challenge to develop a number of costeffective, new-generation, ‘soft’ insecticides, targeting sucking insects in sorghum and pulses. This year saw the first of their products move into a commercialisation phase.

Access to older generation, broad-spectrum insecticides is decreasing, and concerns about the broader effects of such ‘hard’ chemicals in integrated pest management (IPM) programs is increasing. Application of broad-spectrum insecticides against sucking pests threatens IPM strategies by increasing costs, increasing resistance, destroying beneficial insect populations and triggering outbreaks of non-target pests.

However, there are few selective insecticides registered for sucking pests and those that are available are relatively expensive. As a result, grain growers, particularly in the Northern Region, are coming under increased pressure from a range of sucking insects, such as mirids, thrips, aphids and green vegetable bug.

Following the outstanding success of using the fungus Metarhizium to control the plague locust, Carrie’s team began the laborious job of isolating samples of native fungus and screening it against key pest populations. Through laboratory, greenhouse and field trials, a small number of effective strains were isolated and characterised. These strains have been licenced to a commercial company to assess their suitability for registration as biopesticides within specialised formulations.

It is expected that any successful new products made from these isolates will be available to Australian grain growers by 2011.

Case study photo

A heavy infestation of silverleaf whitefly eggs on a young lablab plant. Photo: Melina Miles, QDPI&F

Table 13 New Products overview
Output Group 3-New Products
Objective Deliver new products and services (both on farm and off farm) that will assist growers to effectively compete in global grain markets
Strategies Identify national and international technology relevant to the grains industry Develop partnerships to deliver new technology Undertake product development to meet market requirements Build robust business cases that demonstrate stakeholder return on investment
Investment budget for 2007–08 $7.9 million
Performance for 2007–08
Performance indicators	Outputs	Achievements
Six new technologies or products identified and market assessments undertaken	A feasibility study to determine whether the production of metal nanoparticles from grain crops is both economically and practically viable Establishment of the proof of concept for the use of Pseudomonas species as a biological control agent for snails Establishment of a screening program for contact and short-residue herbicides	After a delay caused by negotiations around intellectual property ownership, the nanoparticles project with the University of Sydney commenced. One year project complete, leading to contract for three years. Successful review of project year one milestones.
At least one new international supplier of research/intellectual property engaged	At least one new international supplier of research/intellectual property engaged	Assessment of a collaborative project with AgResearch in New Zealand.
Five unsolicited offers of new technology made to the GRDC		Unsolicited offers were made to the GRDC seeking support to develop innovative technologies and products in relation to: new rodenticide intellectual property starch quality measurement methods grain quality and internet trading concepts of probiotics single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) technology for variety identification.
A pathway to market identified for the technology emerging from the Crop Biofactories Initiative	Identification, with CSIRO, of potential commercial partners for the technology emerging from the Crop Biofactories Initiative	Representatives of the Crop Biofactories Initiative continued to engage with international chemical companies in relation to the emerging technology.
A new soil inoculant technology delivered to the Australian market	A scoping study to review and assess existing research in the area of nitrogen fixation for cereals and canola, with a view to a major future investment in further research Development of protocols to allow registration of microbes for use in bio-control and bio-inoculation Work undertaken through Philom Bios (Australia) Pty Ltd to continue the product development of phosphorus solubilisation and disease control inoculants	A report on non-legume nitrogen fixation was delivered to the GRDC Board. Contracting of CSE00045 Microbial Tagging for Tracking. Philom Bios (Australia) Pty Ltd continued field testing of a range of growth promotion and disease control microbes.
A national stored grain research partnership established through the CRC for National Plant Biosecurity	Development of a cross-grains industry research effort on grain hygiene, through the CRC for National Plant Biosecurity	The integration of the grain hygiene area into the CRC was accepted. Bulk handlers were engaged and the number of research organisations involved increased. New projects and reviews are underway.
At least one new commercial partnership established to deliver an output of the New Products research projects	Identification and engagement of a commercial party to deliver the outcomes (in cluding tests for weather damage and grain staining) required from the Objective Grain Quality Testing project Recruitment of a commercial partner to further develop a prototype mechanical grain disinfestation technology developed with CSIRO Entomology Development and commercialisation of a new ethyl formate–based grain pest fumigant	Commercial development of new instrument for assessing weather damage instrument is underway. A path to market through registration and commercial release was mapped for a new fumigant.
A robust business case presented for any new investment greater than $250,000 per year		Business cases were completed for the cereal endophyte project and the hybrid baking project.
	Identification of opportunities for further investment in research on industrial feed stocks in Australia, with an emphasis on ethanol produced from either grain or grain residue	The GRDC continued to engage with Bioenergy Australia. Support was provided for the development of a report on biomass availability by the CSIRO Energy Transformed Flagship.
	Development of a business case to attract commercial investment in the development of a microbial biological control agent for snails	Negotiations with potential business partners began.
	Development of a business case to attract commercial investment in novel herbicide technologies	A review of the novel herbicide project was held, to ensure the project is on track and inform the preparation of a business case. Go Grains continued to maintain a vigilant watch for misinformation about the consumption of grain, and to promote and deliver messages about the healthy consumption of grain-based foods.