Boost for lentil breeding
A lentil-breeding program at Horsham’s Grains Innovation Park will undergo a revamp from a new partnership agreement.
Agriculture Victoria and Grains Research and Development Corporation, GRDC, are providing support for an expansion of lentil research and development.
During the past decade, GRDC and research partners have invested $16-million in a Pulse Breeding Australia lentil-breeding program.
The investment has led to nine varieties of the grain with improved yield and better fit for southern Australian farming systems.
Australian lentil production has increased from 196,000 tonnes in 2011 to more than 500,000 tonnes in 2021, with an estimated annual farmgate value of $350-million.
Agriculture Victoria senior research scientist Dr Garry Rosewarne said the lentil research team had welcomed the latest investment partnership with GRDC.
He said there was an opportunity to continue creating new and improved lentil varieties for growers.
“Over the next five years we will see a huge increase in capability, capacity and infrastructure for our lentil-breeding program,” he said.
“Trials in our expansion zones will double, particularly interstate in Western Australia and New South Wales, where our relatively small trial sites will develop into fully-fledged advanced trial sites.
“Overall, it means we can operate a larger and more efficient lentil-breeding program.
“For example, at the moment a variety will take eight to 12 years of research to develop, now we will be able to reduce that timeline by a few years.”
Dr Rosewarne said the news was particularly welcome considering tomorrow was World Pulse Day.
“Victoria’s lentil industry contributes $200-million to the Victorian economy each year, with 95 percent of lentils grown in Victorian exported to countries around the world,” he said.
Dr Rosewarne said new infrastructure and equipment at Horsham Smartfarm would include new glasshouses that could provide optimal year-round growing conditions to support both summer and winter trials.