Western Australia
May 23, 2007
Collaborating with leading Chinese
and Indian canola scientists in rapeseed breeding, pathology and
agronomy could greatly benefit Australia’s oilseed industry.
In particular, Western Australian growers may profit from
India’s shatter-resistant pod research and China’s successful
Sclerotinia resistance research.
Wallace Cowling, Associate Professor at
The University of Western
Australia (UWA) Institute of Agriculture and School of Plant
Biology, said international collaboration could improve
varieties and also canola biotechnology.
Along with Dr Sheng Chen, he has assessed genetic distance,
rapeseed germplasm uniqueness and hybrid vigour in crosses
between Australian, Chinese and Indian lines.
“We expect to find major hybrid vigour in rapeseed hybrid
varieties from Australia, China and India,” Professor Cowling
said.
“However, the big challenge will be canola diseases, which
differ between Australia and China.”
UWA plant pathology research team, Dr Caixia Li, Dr Hua Li,
Professor Krishnapillai Sivasithamparam and Associate Professor
Martin Barbetti, have been assessing Chinese rapeseed germplasm
for resistance to Sclerotinia, white rust and blackleg diseases.
Sclerotinia is an increasing threat to Western Australia’s
canola industry in the high rainfall region.
“Chinese scientists have developed Sclerotinia resistance in
rapeseed over many years and UWA research confirmed this, which
is the first step towards passing this technology onto growers,”
Professor Barbetti said.
“The big challenge is to combine Sclerotinia resistance from
China with the blackleg resistance from Australia, which
annually costs Western Australian growers more than $20 million
in yield losses.
“In China, blackleg is not an issue, so their rapeseed is very
susceptible to this disease.
“As Western Australian rapeseed growers from the 1970s will
verify, Australia’s canola industry would not exist without
adequate blackleg resistance,” he said.
Resistance to white rust, a global Indian mustard disease that
threatens Australia’s fledgling mustard industry, was also
identified in germplasm from the project.
The UWA researchers now face the challenge of applying
appropriate breeding methods to transfer improvements into
Australian canola. China is becoming a major destination for UWA
canola researchers for collaboration, as rapeseed is a major
industry in that country.
Chinese scientists are rapidly breeding canola quality varieties
from their traditional rapeseed types, according to Professor
Cowling.
“Most Western Australian growers are unaware of the big
influence of Asian varieties in Australia, as half our canola
ancestry is from Asian rapeseed varieties introduced here in the
late 1960s.”
“Chinese scientists have been developing hybrid rapeseed
varieties for more than two decades and China grows more hybrid
rapeseed than the total Australian canola crop,” Professor
Cowling said.
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UWA
Institute of Agriculture representatives and other
Australian ACIAR delegates with Chinese and Indian
rapeseed researchers at the world's largest dam, Three
Gorges, on the Yangtze River, China. |
More than 30 collaborators from
Australia, including representatives from the UWA School of
Plant Biology and the
Centre for Legumes in Mediterranean Agriculture, met Chinese
and Indian associates at
Huazhong Agricultural
University (HZAU), China’s leading rapeseed research
laboratory, in April.
Two UWA researchers at the meeting, Dr Ping Si and Dr Sheng
Chen, are HZAU graduates.
The Australian Centre for
International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) and the
Grains Research and Development
Corporation (GRDC) supported the visit as part of the
national ‘Oilseed Brassica Improvement in China, India and
Australia’ project.
UWA has a proud 70 year history
of teaching and research in agriculture and natural resource
management. The Faculty of Agriculture was established at UWA in
1936 and the Institute of Agriculture in 1938 to provide
critical research facilities and staff for effective training of
professional agricultural graduates and scientists at
post-graduate level. UWA recently re-established the Institute
of Agriculture, with Professor Kadambot Siddique as Director, to
strengthen the cohesion of agriculture teaching and research
within and between UWA Faculties. The Institute will co-ordinate
existing strengths of the Faculty in teaching and research in
agricultural science, while advancing UWA’s reputation in
agriculture by enhancing links with industry, farmer groups, the
community and national and international organizations. |
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