Resisting rust

Rust is currently one of the biggest concerns to grain growers around Australia, but relief may be in sight.

HRZ Wheats P/L, a company formed by Export Grains Center, CSIRO and NZ Crop & Food Research, currently has elite wheat lines with outstanding resistance to both stripe and leaf rusts in advanced trials at ten sites around Australia.

Germplasm from New Zealand and the northern hemisphere, many crossed with Australian wheats, are now being evaluated by HRZ Wheats P/L for yield, disease resistance and grain quality.

Many of the new lines are proving to have excellent all round potential, in particular for rust-resistance where many crops are completely free of both stripe and leaf rusts. Breeders have seen healthy, green, resistant lines right next to crops totally covered in yellow rust fungus.

The elite lines under evaluation are part of a drive to breed Australia's first milling quality wheats specifically tailored to the high rainfall zone, and will include Barley Yellow Dwarf Virus (BYDV) resistance, as seen first in the CSIRO-bred Mackellar, released in 2003.

The first of the new rust-resistant varieties could be ready for commercial release as soon as 2006.

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