GRAINS research in regional South Australia is being taken to a new level with the Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC) announcing a major contribution to the establishment of facilities at the South Australian Research and Development Institute’s (SARDI) new Clare Research Centre.

GRDC chairman John Woods said SARDI, a division of Primary Industries and Regions SA (PIRSA), had received a GRDC Grains Research and Development (R&D) Infrastructure Grant of $270,000 to build a controlled environment growth room at the new research centre in SA’s Mid North.

In addition to the GRDC grant, PIRSA-SARDI has contributed $30,000 to the controlled environment growth room project.

Mr Woods said the GRDC Grains R&D Infrastructure Grant was part of $15 million the GRDC Board had agreed to invest in a strategy to build national research capacity.

“The purpose of the grant program is to boost capacity and capability in Australian grains research and development through funding key infrastructure, and to create enduring profitability for grain growers,” he said.

Mr Woods said the state-of-the-art controlled environment growth room would be an important facility at the new $2.5 million Clare Research Centre which has been developed as part of the SA State Government’s commitment to grains research and to a five-year $50 million strategic partnership between the GRDC and PIRSA-SARDI.

“The controlled environment growth room will specifically enable grains research to be conducted year-round at the centre in Clare, with the outputs of that work benefiting growers in the region, the State and beyond,” he said.

The Clare Research Centre is the base for the SARDI New Variety Agronomy (NVA) group, part of an expanding regional team providing applied research and development to SA’s regions.

The SARDI Clare NVA program integrates variety evaluation, pre-breeding, breeding, agronomic research and grain quality evaluation capabilities to facilitate adoption of improved grain varieties for SA growers.

These research projects are valued at more than $2 million annually and include SARDI-GRDC bilateral initiatives such as the development of herbicide-tolerant pulses.

Source: GRDC