SA researchers tackle food security

University of Adelaide Emeritus professor and Australian Centre for Plant Functional Genomics researcher Peter Langridge has long had a passion for tackling food security issues, and believes the answer lies in a multi-faceted approach of improving crop varieties and agronomic practices.

"The estimates are that the genetic gain that has been achieved for major crops is half due to improved breeding methods and half due to improved agronomic practices," Prof Langridge said. "In the developing world, there are still huge gains that can be achieved through in agronomy.

"Ultimately, the only way we can deal with global food security is by not just giving farmers enough to feed their family, but also giving them a bit more, so they can actually earn a living. That gives some money that they can spend on their children's education or various other things, which is where we see vast improvements in development."

He said that Australia's contribution to maximising food security would not just come from increasing on-farm yields and exports.

"There have been all these arguments saying Australia will be the bread basket for Asia, which is really not true. We produce enough for 60 million people, which would only be enough to feed one large city in China. Our impact at that level in terms of food security is minimal.

"Where we can have a big impact is that we're one of the few developed countries that has had a big investment in research in dryland farming systems and those experiences have a huge amount to contribute to what's happening across the world."

He said Australia's research reputation, and our ability to contribute to food security issues, relied on maintaining research budgets for agriculture.

"There have been some studies recently that show that the rate of genetic improvement you can achieve through breeding is very much tied to how much money you are willing to spend," he said.

"You do get real returns on investing in crop improvement and breeding. It's one of the best investments you can make. Nevertheless, it's one of the areas where governments are pulling back."

He said new technology and initiatives - including the National Wheat Yield Partnership, genomic selection and genome editing - were creating an exciting future for breeders.

"There's a lot of excitement around genomic selection as a tool for tapping into whole areas of genetic gain that we haven't worked in before," he said. "It's been incredibly successful in dairy cattle breeding and is now being applied to most crop plants."

While these new techniques hold great potential for the future of plant breeding, he said the state was being held back in other areas - most notably the moratorium on growing genetically modified crops.

"The problem is that it sends all the wrong signals," he said. "It says to our community that the government is not interested in scientific evidence, they're not interested in the advancement of science, and that political expediency is more important that real development in the state."