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Wheat breeder Robin Wilson to retire from InterGrain


Australia
February 27, 2014

Western Australian based, South Australian born wheat breeder Robin Wilson has no regrets about retiring from InterGrain this month, after a distinguished 40 year career in government and private breeding entities in both states, but wishes he could be around for the next 40 years.

“In the next four years, there’s very likely to be incredible advances in wheat breeding techniques, quicker farmer adoption and more robust and adaptable varieties released, than in the past 40 and that’s just so exciting,” Mr Wilson said, from Perth, where he’s about to start his new ‘job’, which he describes as similar to wheat breeding, with its obvious genetic links.

“My wife Colleen and I will be spending a lot of time caring for our son’s 10 month old twin daughters and, in between chasing after them, I expect to be involved in the spring field days in an advisory capacity, plus I’m preparing to write a book on the history of wheat breeding.”

After graduating from University of Adelaide in 1971 with a Bachelor of Agricultural Science, majoring in plant breeding and pathology, he taught at secondary schools for a few years before pursuing his first love, plant breeding, as a research associate at SA’s wheat breeding centre.

He spent 10 years at Roseworthy before joining the WA Department of Agriculture, where he was employed by Bryan Whan, who later became InterGrain’s CEO.

When Robin moved west, he brought with him some of Roseworthy’s best wheat germplasm and soon conducted many new crosses with WA germplasm.

It was Robin’s initial crosses which led to the release of a suite of new varieties, which were a quantum leap forward for WA growers in terms of yield.

The first of these was Cascades in 1994, named due to its suitability to the Esperance region. Robin jokingly suggests that the release of this variety caused the local road sign ‘Cascades’ to be changed to Cascade, the actual name of the town.

Carnamah, named after the WA town 300 kilometres north of Perth and released in 1996, was the first of what Robin describes as a blockbuster.

Carnamah was widely grown in the late 1990s, peaking in 2003 at 26% market share in WA.

Arrino and Westonia were the next releases in 1997, with Arrino a landmark variety, effectively replacing Eradu and, with Calingiri, saving the noodle wheat industry.

Westonia was another blockbuster, peaking at 19% market share in 2002 and still grown today.

Ajana and Camm were released in 1998, but the best was yet to come, when in 2001 Robin’s variety Wyalkatchem was released.

“Wyalkatchem was a real stand-out in our program and probably the variety I’m most proud of,” Robin declared.

“A successful cross between Machete and a WA unreleased breeding line, Wyalkatchem offered the particular plant type and yield advantages I’d been chasing for many years. Machete was a variety I assisted in breeding at Roseworthy, as well as the varieties Spear and Blade.

“I knew growers wanted a short variety, with a stocky head and good straw strength for improved stubble management and Wyalkatchem delivered in spades,” he said.

Wyalkatchem’s market share peaked in 2009 at 33% in WA and 29% in SA and was so successful that it was used as a parent in the breeding of new varieties Mace, Corack and Wallup.

After Wyalkatchem’s release, the WA Department of Agriculture and its equivalents in Queensland and NSW joined forces under the banner of Enterprise Grains Australia (2002-2005) and all varieties released during this time had the EGA prefix, hence the name for EGA Bonnie Rock (2002), a high yielding, high quality AH wheat.

Bonnie Rock began the tradition of all future AH varieties being named after a rock, with the rock theme originating from the former AWB AH symbol, which was Uluru (Ayer’s Rock).

The WA Department of Agriculture eventually withdrew from EGA and InterGrain was established in October 2007, when the WA Government transferred the cereal breeding activities of the Department from a government based operation into a commercial company structure, in partnership with the Grains Research and Development Corporation.

Robin’s first release under the InterGrain banner was Magenta in 2007, named after its purple auricles. Magenta has been a successful variety for WA growers and is still a current variety.

The short season AH variety Emu Rock, jointly bred by Robin and Chris Moore, was also a significant release and is proving a robust variety, particularly in SA.

Robin is proud to have ended his career at InterGrain with his final release while at InterGrain, Harper, named after WA’s first wheat breeders, Charles and Walter Harper.

“Harper is delivering well as a higher yielding Yitpi alternative for WA growers,” he said.

Robin has been the senior breeder in the release of 18 wheat varieties and has been involved in breeding several others. It is likely that further varieties with which he has had a significant or partial involvement, will be released after his retirement.

He considers himself fortunate to have worked in three breeding programs across two states and particularly pleased to have ended his career in a private breeding organisation.

“Working as a wheat breeder in a private entity such as InterGrain allows you to concentrate on the core business of breeding, while staying focussed on what growers need and developing varieties for them that the market will value,” he said.

“Now is a very exciting time for wheat breeding, with molecular markers allowing us to track particular genes and double genetic gain for yield.

“Genetic modification techniques will eventually double that again, so the genetic progress and the results for growers at the business end of the season are almost limitless.

“Closer relationships between breeders and growers, largely facilitated by the growth of regional grower groups in the past 10 years, has also contributed to a more positive wheat industry.

“A privatised wheat breeding organisation such as InterGrain is able to quickly tap into the resources and knowledge bases of agricultural consultants, including the ever expanding network of highly trained and well informed agronomists.

“However, despite great advances in breeding techniques and breeders enjoying instant access to the global information highway, nothing replaces time in the paddock.

“Plants have a way of almost talking to you, as long as you’re there to listen,” Robin said.
 



More news from: InterGrain Pty. Ltd.


Website: http://www.intergrain.com

Published: February 27, 2014

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