CAIGE, a global program evaluating bread wheat germplasm suitable for Australian growers, has again delivered a return on investment of 20:1, according to its most recent economic analysis.

Published in Frontiers in Plant Science, the analysis also found these materials have had a significant genetic impact on the Australian wheat industry.

An analysis in 2022 also showed the CAIGE investment had a benefit–cost return of 20:1.

While the analysis focused on bread wheat, lead author Richard Trethowan, who is director of the Plant Breeding Institute and professor of plant breeding at the University of Sydney, says similar returns are likely for durum wheat and barley.

The program began with bread wheat in 2007, expanding to include durum wheat and barley in 2012.

Established with GRDC assistance, led by Dr Trethowan and coordinated by Dr Julie Nicol, it gives Australian researchers and plant breeders access to material from two global research programs: CIMMYT (the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center) in Mexico and ICARDA (the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas) with over 10 country offices, including in Morocco.

International nurseries

Each year Dr Trethowan leads a delegation to either Mexico or Morocco, where they are given the opportunity to walk through nurseries and look for plants that might be suited to Australian conditions and have particular traits chosen by the CAIGE breeders reference group.

“We’re not looking at the material they’ve already selected to send to their clients in developing countries,” he says.

“They’re often too tall because in the developing world, straw has a value. And of course, in Australia, straw is a nuisance for many growers. We’re looking for reduced height, white grain and better quality, along with enhanced disease resistance.”

Professor Richard Trethowan at the Plant Breeding Institute, University of Sydney. Photo: Paul Looyen

Material selection

They select material from thousands of lines showing potential and use the data collected by the CIMMYT and ICARDA breeders to refine the sets that are brought to Australia.

During the period that a ‘set’ is in quarantine at the Australian Grains Genebank at Horsham, the same material is sent to a global hotspot where that trait is needed.

For example, traits that help with soil-borne diseases would be sent to Türkiye (Turkey). “That is where they have a lot of these disease complexes,” he says.

“By the time the lines leave quarantine (in Horsham) and they’re ready for post-harvest multiplication, we have all that additional data on the material (from Türkiye). So, we can further tailor the ‘set’ that is then distributed post-multiplication to the breeding companies for evaluation.”

Seed is bulked up at Narrabri and planted at sites managed by commercial plant breeders across the country for yield testing – 14 sites for bread wheat, four for durum wheat and six for barley – and provided to organisations for disease testing.

The yield results are made available to contributing companies, CIMMYT and ICARDA and other collaborators via the CAIGE website. Publicly funded disease scores and yield results are freely available at the same site. Plant breeders then decide what they select and how they use the material.

Using grain receivals’ data on variety and volume, as well as prices, Dr Trethowan says the contribution of CIMMYT and ICARDA material to the pedigrees of commercially released varieties can be assessed.

Pre-emptive breeding

Examples of successful varieties that evolved through the CAIGE program include Suntop wheat, which contains CIMMYT parentage and has been used to develop Sunmaster wheat, while Jumbuck and Borlaug 100 are direct releases of lines introduced from CIMMYT.

“You could even say this is pre-emptive breeding because many of the materials brought in under CAIGE have been tested for resistance against pathotypes of the diseases that are not present in Australia but could well be in Australia in the future,” Dr Trethowan says.

In many ways, I think one of the real successes of CAIGE, apart from contribution to adaptation, is disease resistance.

In general, material from CIMMYT has been better adapted to Australia’s northern region, while ICARDA material tends to be more suited to the southern and western regions.

Two-way street

Each October, the CAIGE team hosts visitors from CIMMYT or ICARDA for a two-week national tour of all the trial sites, where the plant breeders can see how their material performs in Australian conditions.

Dr Trethowan says raw trial data is made available within two or three weeks of the sites being harvested, and analysed data a few weeks later.

“What is fascinating is the two-way impact,” Dr Trethowan says. “We’re deriving great benefit from a global research partnership (CGIAR), using CAIGE as a filter to really hone in on the highest value materials. But because we return the data so quickly – they can just log on and access the data in real time – we’re also influencing the global program.

They use our data to drive decision-making. Future material that they’re developing is going to be better adapted to our conditions. There are enormous sums of money spent on these international programs, and we’re leveraging maximum benefit for very little investment.

The CAIGE program is coordinated by the University of Sydney under one project umbrella comprising two components: wheat, led by Dr Trethowan, and barley, led by Dr Mark Dieters, formerly of the University of Queensland.

Who does what

CIMMYT: The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center encourages more productive, sustainable maize and wheat farming in developing countries. Headquarters: El Batán, Mexico.

ICARDA: The International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas implements research programs – including improvement of cereal, legume pasture and forage varieties, and better water efficiency – in 50 countries across the world’s non-tropical dry areas. Headquarters: Beirut, Lebanon.

CAIGE: CIMMYT Australia ICARDA Germplasm Evaluation. This program coordinates the selection, importation, quarantine, dissemination and evaluation of bread wheat, durum wheat and barley lines imported from CIMMYT and ICARDA. Headquarters: University of Sydney, Australia.

CGIAR: The Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research is the world’s largest global agricultural innovation network, with 15 research centres – including CIMMYT and ICARDA – dedicated to enhancing food and nutrition security, and improving natural resources. Headquarters: Montpellier, France.

This article appeared in GroundCover