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CSIRO - "Drysdale"
Drought-resistant wheat the pick of the crop
A pioneering wheat-breeding program gives farmers a chance to fight back against the big dry.
Wheat farming communities are hit particularly hard when drought sets in. Low rainfall significantly limits crop yields in Australia. Scientists at the CSIRO have responded to water shortage issues with pioneering research that has led to the development of Drysdale, a wheat variety with superior water use efficiency (WUE).
Dr Richard Richards heads the research team that developed Drysdale. The group worked with the Australian National University (ANU) throughout the 1980s to identify a selection method based on plant respiration to improve WUE in wheat-breeding programs. The method was a world first and, when applied to a cross of two high-quality and disease-resistant varieties, produced Drysdale. The variety yields at least 10 per cent more under dry conditions than ordinary wheats.
"Drysdale provides a new benchmark for high WUE wheat," Dr Richards says. "It provides proof that physiologically-based breeding can contribute to advances in agriculture and demonstrates that an investment in fundamental biology can contribute to improved crop varieties globally."
A collaborative approach
The research team's work has since successfully paved the way for a range of collaborative research agreements with various industry bodies, providing co-investment in research and development.
Dr Richards says the ability to improve WUE in specialty wheats adds significant value to crops, and requires safeguards to protect the intellectual property. This can be achieved through Plant Breeder's Rights, which protect commercial rights to a registered variety. "The personal challenge in this research was to demonstrate that innovative, basic research can be translated from theoretical understanding to a practical outcome for farmers nationally and internationally."
To this end, the CSIRO and ANU developed screening methodology that accurately translated the genetic discrimination found in the laboratory into improved WUE in farmers' fields.
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