THE GRAINS Research and Development Corporation is nearing a decision on who will take over Chickpea Breeding Australia, after expressions of interest closed in August last year.

GRDC ideally has around two months to have a company in place as it intends for the successful bidder to assume responsibility for the program before the 2026 planting season, typically beginning in late April, according to the EOI information.

However, given the high bar required to be eligible for consideration, Grain Central understands only two breeders — Intergrain and Australian Grain Technologies — are likely to meet the criteria.

GRDC and program partner, NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, have committed to fund the project until June this year when the commercial owner will officially take over.

The partners have agreed to fund the program a year longer than its original five-year term.

Formed in 2020, the initiative aimed to develop high-yielding desi and kabuli chickpea varieties to increase outputs in traditional and new growing areas.

Senior plant breeder Dr Kristy Hobson has led the program since its formation, supported by operations manager Glenn Lendon.

In September, Mr Lendon left CBA, taking a role with the NSW North West Local Land Services.

Three months after his exit, on December 9, GRDC awarded a contract to CMajor Biometry for Chickpea Breeding Program – Trial design, statistical analysis and genomic prediction support.

Valued at $229,330, the contract period runs from 9 December 2025 to 30 June 2026.

The contract was offered through a limited tender, with only CMajor Biometry invited to apply, citing “no reasonable alternative or substitute” and the need to protect proprietary information.

CMajor Biometry is the company of Brian Cullis, a senior professor at the University of Wollongong’s School of Mathematics and Applied Statistics.

Professor Cullis was formerly a principal research scientist and chief biometrician with the then NSW Department of Primary Industries, and is part of the ARC Training Centre in Predictive Breeding.

EOI process

It is unclear what role Professor Cullis is playing at CBA, other than that it is expected to finish when the commercial partner takes over.

GRDC opened a former EOI process on July 10 last year which closed on August 11.

It welcomed submissions from commercial breeding companies or consortia led by commercial breeding companies to continue the breeding program under licence from GRDC.

Grain Central understands the EOI required respondents to be commercial breeding companies specialising in developing, producing and commercialising new field crop varieties.

They must be investing in R&D and must operate on a for-profit basis.

The successful candidate would also be required to protect and manage the intellectual property, seed distribution, royalty collection and distribution, licence management, and reporting.

GRDC’s evaluation criteria for a prospective commercial operator included key points such as:

• has a significant Australian presence and track record in commercial breeding of broadacre food crops;
• applies best-practice breeding to its current breeding program;
• is committed to, and capable of expanding crop plantings into non-traditional areas to meet industry needs;
• has released commercial varieties that rank highly; and
• is committed to, and capable of incorporating pre-breeding outputs and novel traits to continue to deliver impactful varieties for growers.

The criteria also stated the respondent should provide a proposal for the “operational arrangements to facilitate the successful transitioning of the chickpea breeding program”.

It noted that GRDC’s preference was “for the successful applicant to take responsibility of breeding operations before the 2026 planting season and no later than 30 June 2026”.

It also said the applicant should show how the program would be resourced into the future and “what (if any) ongoing contributions it is seeking from GRDC”.

“If co-investment is sought, explain how this would be beneficial to Australian grain growers,” the criteria said.

Potential commercial operators

State governments have traditionally overseen pulse breeding in Australia, with minimal commercial backing.

Under Pulse Breeding Australia, the funding and organisation was shared between GRDC, the University of Adelaide, the SA Research and Development Institute (SARDI) and state departments of primary industries in Victoria, NSW, Queensland and Western Australia.

After it was disbanded, pulse-breeding responsibilities were divided among the major pulse-producing states, either to state governments or commercial entities.

Only three commercial operators undertake pulse breeding and commercialisation in Australia: Grains Innovation Australia, which focuses on lentils; Australian Grain Technologies, which breeds lupins; and AgriVentis, which largely focuses on mungbeans and smaller niche crops.

Other major grain crop breeders in Australia include Intergrain, Pacific Seeds, Pioneers Seeds, Nufarm, LongReach Plant Breeders and Barenbrug.

Of these players, Intergrain has signalled interest in entering the pulse breeding sector through faba beans.

Australian Grain Technologies and InterGrain, both of which have GRDC as a stakeholder, are seen as the leading contenders to take over the chickpea breeding program, given their scale, experience and track record.

Headquartered in Roseworthy, South Australia, AGT has existing breeding teams at Narrabri and Wagga Wagga in NSW as well as at SA and Northam, WA.

Its Narrabri facilities are a collaboration between the NSW Government, University of Sydney, Wheat Research Foundation and GRDC.

AGT currently has a small site at Wagga Wagga alongside a 240ha irrigation and dryland property, Kabinga Research Centre, used for wheat breeding.

The company is also advancing plans for a $29-million breeding facility just outside the city which will be used for R&D work alongside seed processing.

InterGrain currently operates breeding facilities at Bibra Lakes in WA and Horsham in Victoria as well as having an operation co-located with NSW DPIRD at Narrabri.

The company is developing a new facility in Forrestdale to replace its Bibra Lake site and serve as its headquarters.

Estimated to cost about $38M, the facility appears to be the company’s key project and focus in the near term.

Chickpeas remain Australia’s largest pulse crop, with the ABARES December Australian Crop Report forecasting production of 2.1 million tonnes in 2025-26.

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