Project to Help Breeders Develop Frost Tolerant Cereal Varieties

Australia's Department of Agriculture and Food is working with the University of Adelaide and the Queensland Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries on a four-year project to examine the impact of frost on wheat and barley around Australia. Frost damage cost Australian grain growers an estimated $109 million (USD 91 million) in the 2008 season. Scientists involved in the project, funded by the Grains Research and Development Corporation, hope that their findings may eventually help breeders develop high-yielding, locally adapted cereal varieties resistant to frost.

The project is examining the performance of nine lines of barley and three lines of wheat under local frost conditions and how this relates to their genetic makeup. "Frost damage to cereal crops could occur at anytime but is most devastating from August to September or after heading as a consequence of aborted florets, head damage and stem damage," said Ben Biddulph, research leader. "Understanding how a range of material response with different frosts will lead to a better understanding of the mechanisms required for plant breeders to develop more frost tolerant varieties."

Read the media release at http://www.agric.wa.gov.au/PC_93530.html?s=1001