Australian Pulse Breeding Joint Venture

SYDNEY - Mar 15/07 - SNS -- Pulse Australia, universities, and government departments and agencies have combined their plant breeding efforts for pulses into a single unincorporated joint venture.

Called Pulse Breeding Australia (PBA), it was launched at the University of Adelaide, and will coordinate Australia's pulse breeding efforts says inaugural chairman Peter Reading. who is also managing director of the Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC).

"Pulses are an important part of Australian grain production, both as export crops in their own right and as part of crop rotations," he said. "The aim of PBA is to coordinate a cost-effective pulse breeding program that develops new, superior varieties more quickly for our farmers.

"Its focus will be on monitoring reliable market signals, accessing elite germplasm for breeding efforts and rapid adoption by Australian growers of new lentil, fababean, chickpea and field pea varieties that have been developed for, and field-tested in, local conditions.

"The grains industry is excited by the potential of PBA to enable greater collaboration and resource sharing in pulse breeding to improve efficiencies and effectiveness.

"The GRDC strongly supports this joint venture as part of our objective to deliver to Australian growers better pulse varieties faster through a world-leading, cost-efficient breeding program."

PBA is an unincorporated joint venture between the GRDC, Pulse Australia, the University of Adelaide, the SA Research and Development Institute (SARDI), the Victorian Department of Primary Industries (DPIV), the NSW Department of Primary Industries (NSWDPI), the Queensland Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries (QDPI&F) and the Department of Agriculture and Food Western Australia (DAFWA).

Coinciding with the launch was the announcement that PB Seeds Pty Ltd had been awarded a commercial licence which will provide 'first option' exclusive rights to a pipeline of lentil varieties developed through PBA until June 2011.

PB Seeds will enter a licence with DPIV and will collaborate with PBA to produce, promote and fast-track the adoption of future elite lentil varieties to help growers maximize their profitability. The licence rights will include two new lentil varieties which are targeted to be available to Australian producers in commercial quantities in 2009: CIP411, a red lentil suited to high-rainfall regions; and CIP415, a broadly adapted high-yielding red lentil.

"Innovative research is a foundation of the Australian grains industry's growth and sustainability," Reading said. "The formation of PBA ensures that with regard to pulse breeding, Australia will remain at the cutting edge."