WHILE the University of Adelaide plans to leave the barley breeding space, South Australia will remain a major player in the non-wheat cereal breeding arena through the oat breeding program of the South Australian Research and Development Institute (SARDI).
Principal plant breeder with the oat program at SARDI Pamela Zwer said the program was ‘very active’ at present, meeting a range of demand from both the milling and hay oat sectors.
She said the SARDI team were planning to release a new variety in Western Australia in September, a milling oat which has also been tested in the hay oat program.
Dr Zwer said SARDI runs the oat breeding program for southern Australia, looking at both hay and grain lines, while a grazing oat program runs out of Toowoomba in Queensland.
She said there had been strong interest from growers in oats over recent seasons due to their strong price.
“There are good markets in both the hay and milling oat sectors.”
As is the case with most export grain sectors, the Chinese market is critical.
“China is very interested in our oaten hay, but also in oats for grain, which can be used both in western style health foods, but also in traditional cooking.”
Dr Zwer said parts of northern China had used oats as a staple food for centuries.
“90 per cent of the oats in China are milled into flour, and from there they can be used in traditional porridges, a type of noodle or as type of steamed bread.”
She said research was currently going on in China to produce an oat that can be mixed with rice when processed for additional nutritional benefits.
Growers were following on the price signals sent and looking at oats as a rotational option Dr Zwer said.
However, she said the lack of an imi-tolerant (Clearfield) oat meant growers who were concerned about plant back issues for the following crop could not grow oats.
“We are looking at trying to develop an imi-tolerant oat line down the track,” she said.
The other major oat breeding centre in Australia is based at the Leslie Research Centre in Queensland and is a commercial partnership between Queensland’s Department of Agriculture and Forestry (DAF) and Heritage Seeds.
The SARDI oat breeding program receives funding from the Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC).
