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Pulses, 18 Mar 2024
Project to optimise nutrition for WA pulse crops
Western Australian grain growers are set to benefit from new fertiliser guidelines aimed at optimizing the growth of newly adapted pulse crops, including chickpeas, field peas, lentils, faba beans, vetch, and lupins. This three-year research project, a collaboration between the Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC) and Living Farm, seeks to enhance growers' profitability by providing tailored nutrition recommendations for phosphorus, potassium, and sulphur. Living Farm's agronomy and operations manager, Kathryn Fleay, emphasized that the project would generate crucial updated information on the nutrient requirements of a variety of grain legumes, aiding growers and advisors in making informed decisions. Through a combination of glasshouse experiments, field trials, and paddock-scale trials utilizing new technologies, the project aims to develop and validate fertiliser response curves specific to Western Australia's agricultural conditions.
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Pulses, 18 Mar 2024
Lupins to be fortified for disease resistance
Renewed vigour is being applied to narrow-leafed lupin development with a major cross institutional project upping the ante for disease resistance. Four high priority diseases will be the focus of the investment with the aim of investigating new means of increasing the speed and accuracy of screening, identifying new genes and developing new molecular genetic tools for breeders.
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Pulses, 14 Feb 2024
New broadacre summer pulse crop for Queensland and northern NSW
The Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC), in collaboration with the Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries (DAF) and the Woods Group, is spearheading projects to promote pigeonpea as a promising broadacre summer pulse crop in Queensland and northern NSW. Building on prior research that highlighted pigeonpea's potential beyond a trap crop for cotton, these initiatives aim to transform pigeonpea into a key summer pulse for the region. Rebecca Raymond, GRDC's grower relations manager for the north, emphasized the need for a resilient summer pulse crop suited to the arid and warm areas of southwest Queensland and northwest New South Wales.
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Pulses, 31 Jan 2024
New push to sweeten soybean plantings
From a project instigated by a mayor in Queensland’s tropics to a new industry development officer further south, there is a push to reinvigorate the soybean industry in the northern region.
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Pulses, 30 Jan 2024
HALO project shines light on Broomehill nitrogen needs
New pasture legume options for grain growers are being trialled in regions of need through HALO – the Harvestable Annual Legume Options project – under the mantle of WA Agricultural Research Collaboration. Growers in the Broomehill region are one of the first to benefit from sites evaluating newly developed species with improved adaptation.
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Pulses, 29 Jan 2024
Grains projects get off the ground for research collaboration
Two new GRDC-invested projects, exploring lupin disease resistance and annual legume options, will deliver additional rotation options for WA growers contributing to the profitability of farming systems. They are part of the WA Agricultural Research Collaboration, which brings together seven research and extension partners within WA.
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Pulses, 23 Jan 2024
Fine-tuning legume agronomy to benefit SA growers
Pod drop caused by strong winds is one of the biggest challenges faced by South Australian lentil growers, who frequently report losses of up to 0.5 tonnes per hectare due to wind events prior to harvest.
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Pulses, 08 Dec 2023
Holistic strategy to enhance chickpea blight resistance
Ascochyta blight is the number one disease threat to chickpea production in Australia. GRDC is taking a holistic approach with an investment managed by South Australian Research and Development Institute, uniting skills across several agencies. Mass screening of chickpea lines is being combined with genomic resistance identification to improve the odds for chickpea’s fight against Ascochyta blight.
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Pulses, 07 Dec 2023
Chickpea blight – resistance phenotyping
Simulating conditions for Ascochyta blight disease screening of chickpeas has proved challenging. With GRDC investment it has now been achieved both cost-effectively and with high through-put at Agriculture Victoria’s SmartFarm at both paddock scale and in the glasshouse.
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Pulses, 06 Dec 2023
International profiling team tackle chickpea Ascochyta blight
Ascochyta blight is a continual threat to chickpea production in Australia but a forensic approach by an international consortium is set to type both pathogen and chickpea genomes and improve the odds of success in the battle against the disease.