Dr Tristan Coran.
A PARTNERSHIP between Australian Grain Technologies (AGT), farm chemical supplier Sipcam Australia and US-based crop-protection company Albaugh, LLC has been established to deliver the CoAXium Production System for Australian broadacre barley growers.
The system is based on a non-GMO herbicide-tolerance barley germplasm developed in Australia by AGT, and will enable Albaugh’s Aggressor, a Group 1 herbicide, to be used on hard-to-control grass weeds like brome grass, barley grass, wild oats and susceptible annual ryegrass in barley.
Sipcam Australia will manage Aggressor distribution and provide industry stewardship for the CoAXium system.
“We are especially proud that Australian growers will be the first in the world to take advantage of the CoAXium Production System for Barley,” AGT head of science & business development Dr Tristan Coram said.
AGT has been developing barley genetics since 2014 and has already released the commercial varieties Beast, Cyclops, Minotaur and Yeti.
The AGT team is now actively incorporating the CoAXium trait into elite genetics and expects to make the first CoAXium barley available to growers for the 2023 season.
“AGT searched for partners who understood Australian conditions and had a track record of delivering new technologies to growers so we could bring this new technology to market.”
“Our three-way partnership with Sipcam and Albaugh will ensure growers receive the full benefit of the CoAXium Production System, while also protecting the technology through good industry stewardship.”
Sipcam Australia marketing and operations manager Richard Branson said the pending introduction of the CoAXium system has the potential to change how barley is grown in Australia.
“There is lot more to CoAXium than a non-GMO herbicide-tolerant barley variety,” Mr Branson said.
“It’s a whole new production system that can change the entire cropping program, which is why CoAXium will be fully supported by a stewardship program developed by Sipcam.”
“The new program will involve all aspects of growing herbicide-tolerant barley, including the use of Aggressor herbicide, rotation implications, herbicide-resistance strategies and integrated weed control.”
Sipcam is a leading supplier of crop protection and nutrition products to Australian farmers and will provide sales and technical support for Aggressor herbicide and the CoAXium Production System.
“The CoAXium platform represents Albaugh’s initial exposure to Australia and we look forward to bringing more innovative technologies to Australian growers in the near future,” Albaugh North America president Douglas Kaye said.
Albaugh global director of Innovation Platform technologies Chad Shelton said the partnership represented the backbone of Albaugh’s Innovation Platform, which focused on strategic partnerships to deliver unique and novel technologies around the globe.
“Our Aggressor herbicide brands have been developed using a proven active ingredient that now offers growers a new tool for addressing grassy weeds in their barley rotations,” Mr Shelton said.
Source: AGT
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