Investment in science and industry development key to profitable agrifood sector 2

Merredin Managed Environment Facility

Science team: Ian Pritchard (project leader), Vincent Lambert, Michelle Murfit, Salzar Rahman, Matthew Mills

Water productivity traits are evaluated under a range of heat and drought conditions within any year at the Merredin managed environment facility (MEF).

This research assists in fast-tracking selected new traits to be incorporated by breeding companies into higher yielding crop varieties for growers, ensuring they remain profitable into the future.

These improvements will be increasingly important given climate change predictions for the lower rainfall environments.

Merredin MEF represents the lower rainfall environments across southern WA, South Australia, and the Victorian Wimmera and Mallee regions, which between them produce the majority of Australian grain.

Trials/projects and plot numbers for Merredin MEF 2014–16

MEF trial description	2014	2015	2016
Benchmarking of water productivity traits	528	444
Validating the role of the wheat 1-FEH gene in stem water-soluble carbohydrate remobilisation to the grain	144	-	-
Identification of genetic variation for heat tolerance in durum and bread wheat	354	-	-
Engagement of the national MEF in validation and delivery of key physiological traits for improved wheat performance under drought	576	-	-
Genetic variability in wheat and barley for establishment and early growth under limiting soil moisture	464	-	-
Alternative dwarfing gene phenotyping/gene value experiment	-	234	432
Rate of grain filling phenotyping/trait value experiment	-	168	336
Maintenance of leaf area phenotyping/trait value experiment	-	132	288
Transpiration efficiency x WSC trait combination value experiment	-	480	480
Early vigour	-	264	-

The national MEF program has currently evaluated only wheat. It is envisaged that a range of crops including barley, oats, canola, legumes and lupins, will be evaluated at MEF facilities in future.

HIGHLIGHTS

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  Merredin MEF comprises 60 ha of land in rotation with 21.6 ha of land developed for irrigation by mobile travelling irrigators.
  
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  Water for irrigation is guaranteed independent of seasonal rainfall. Water is primarily sourced from a 16 ML dam and a 12-ha roaded catchment with access to the Goldfields Pipeline, when required.
  

Funding and collaborators

GRDC, CSIRO, UT, DPI, AGT, MU

New Genes for New Environments (NGNE) Facilities

Science team: Ian Pritchard (project leader), Dr Ed Barrett-Lennard, Vincent Lambert, Steve Bell Adrian Cox, Meir Altman, Dr Modika Perera, Leigh Smith

DAFWA’s New Genes for New Environments (NGNE) facilities are designed to enable evaluation of the world’s best genetic modification traits from both public and private research organisations under WA conditions in a highly contained and safe testing environment.

NGNE facilities are located at Merredin and Katanning. These two sites have different climates and soils that enable trialling of GM crops in a variety of environments. These locations provide contrasting stresses such as low rainfall and high temperatures in Merredin with frost and winter waterlogging in Katanning.

The NGNE centres at Merredin and Katanning have a range of facilities and experimental research equipment used to work on GM crops. These include trial areas as well as work areas, offices and laboratories.

NGNE facilities and services include:

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  a 5ha trial site enclosed by bird-proof netting and a 2m-high fence to exclude large animals.
  
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  an electronic security system
  
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  an onsite secured shed housing machinery used in GM trial work and seed production
  
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  a clean-down pad with air and water pressure cleaners to ensure all equipment is thoroughly cleaned to further prevent GM material leaving the secured site
  
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  a physical containment Level 2 (PC2) laboratory that is fully equipped for analysis of GM plant material in a safe and contained environment, including an autoclave room for destruction of surplus viable plant materials.
  

All staff are trained to meet the Office of Gene Technology Regulator licence requirements and GM crop trial work is overseen by a compliance manager.

In partnership with the Australian Centre for Plant Functional Genomics (ACPFG), DAFWA is testing traits for drought, aluminium toxicity, subsoil salinity tolerance and bio fortification of seed zinc and iron.