Grains Research & Development

The Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development has grains research and development connections across Australia and with more than 25 countries worldwide – ranging from collaboration with Japanese flour millers involved with the udon noodle industry through to seeking out barley genes tolerant of acid soils on the Tibetan Plateau and commercialising department-bred lupin varieties for use in the Chilean salmon industry.

These research, development and extension linkages and partnerships underpin the department’s capacity to tackle grains issues of national and regional agricultural importance and deliver profitable management solutions to the state’s 4000 grain producers.

The department is committed to leading and contributing to specific priority areas of research and development through the Grains Industry National Research, Development and Extension (RD&E) Strategy.

The Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC) – a national organisation coordinating research and development of behalf of Australian grain growers is a key funder of the department's grain research, development and extension activities.

Major initiatives being undertaken through the GRDC-DPIRD partnership include developing solutions to frost and soil constraints, which together can cost the Western Australian grains industry hundreds of millions of dollars in lost production each year.

Grains Research and Industry Development Projects

Articles

  • With lupins being susceptible and grown in close rotation to canola, particularly in the northern WA wheatbelt, lupin growers are facing increasing pressure from sclerotinia stem rot (caused by

  • Information is provided here to assist management of diseases and viruses that occur in broadacre crops grown in Western Australia - cereals (wheat, barley, oats and triticale), pulses (field pea,

  • When selecting a wheat variety to implement in a farming system, it is important to be aware of the variety's disease package to plan management options. The disease resistance ratings for wheat va

  • Leaf spot diseases affecting wheat in Western Australia are septoria nodorum blotch, yellow spot and septoria tritici blotch.

  • Stripe rust (Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici) and leaf rust (Puccinia triticina) can be a significant threat to wheat crops in Western Australia in some seasons.

  • This page provides information about known wheat leaf rust pathotypes in Western Australia (WA), including most recent incursions in 2013 and 2015.

  • Stem rust (Puccinia graminis f. sp. tritici) is a foliar disease that can significantly reduce wheat yields if it occurrs in early spring and is not controlled.