ONE of the grain industry’s highest honours was recently awarded to SARDI soil biology and molecular diagnostics group leader Dr Alan McKay.
Alan received the prestigious Seed of Light award at the GRDC update held in Adelaide, attended by about 450 farmers, agronomists, researchers and industry representatives.
The Seed of Light acknowledges outstanding effort in the extension of outcomes from GRDC investments.
Alan has been involved with agriculture all his life, after growing up on a citrus orchard and cattle farm in Barooga, NSW.
“Growing up on a farm, I was always interested in science, and particularly agricultural science,” he said.
Alan studied agricultural science at the University of Melbourne, and after completing his degree, his first job was with the multi-national company Imperial Chemical Industries in the 1970s.
It was through this job that Alan ended up in SA.
“I was a research and development officer with ICI and ran field trials across SA,” he said.
“The work was mostly with cereals, but also with the potato industry and in vineyards.”
Through his role with ICI, Alan did some of the earlier trials on minimal tillage.
“I conducted trials in the Mid North and South East with a disc seeder that was brought out from the United Kingdom,” he said.
“Unfortunately, the crops were hit by rhizoctonia in both cases.”
It was through these trials and the challenges faced that Alan became interested in soil-borne diseases.
“A number of the trials I ran through ICI were hit with root disease problems, so I followed up with the Department of Agriculture to find out some more information,” he said.
Chasing up this information, Alan was made aware of a project targeting annual ryegrass toxicity, and through this he began working with the Department of Agriculture, and later SARDI.
One of the highlights of Alan’s career has been his major role in developing Predicta B soil analysis technology.
Predicta B is a DNA-based soil testing service provided by SARDI, which enables graingrowers to identify the pathogens posing the greatest risk on their farm, and to monitor the effect of changed farming practices and seasons on disease populations, as well as helping them make better informed variety and rotation choices.
The testing service is recognised internationally for its capacity to accurately identify and measure soil pathogens, as well as the nutrition states of soils.
“In the 1980s and 1990s there were major problems with root diseases, particularly cereal cyst nematode, take-all and rhizoctonia,” Alan said.
Due to these issues, SARDI provided funding to set up a molecular diagnostics group in the 1990s, and through this group Predicta B was developed.
Alan said before Predicta B was available, conducting assessments on root disease was very labour intensive.
Today, Predicta B is used across a huge range of industries including potatoes and other vegetables.
GRDC southern regional panel deputy chairman Mike McLaughlin said the estimated annual potential national losses from soil and stubble-borne pathogens in wheat alone was more than $1.06 billion and $792 million, respectively.
“The dedicated work undertaken by Alan continues to support growers in combating crop diseases,” he said.
Alan said it was an honour to receive the Seed of Light.
“It’s great to be acknowledged for the work that’s been done over the years,” he said.
