Aussie wheat growers part of G20 wheat project
West Australian crop researchers are helping to strengthen the world’s future food security after being chosen to participate in an international wheat project, ABC rural reports.
Agriculture Ministers of the G20 nations have established the “International wheat yield partnership” programme consisting of eight teams of researchers, including several bright brains from WA. The ambitious aim is to lift yields in a variety of crops by about 50% in the next 20 years, to meet the demand of a growing world population.
One of the scientists is Professor Harvey Millar from the Australian research council’s centre for excellence in plant energy biology at the University of Western Australia. He said it was good news for West Australian farmers to have two local researchers at the table of such a significant project.
Millar: “The harshness of the Australian environment and the West Australian environment means that there could actually be even more gain here than there would be in some other parts of the world if we can improve the energy efficiency, because our wheats are particularly inefficient in the environments we grow them in.”
The three-year, international project which is funded in part by the GRDC will begin in 2016.
Source: ABC Rural
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