In this section:
Oat Breeding
Oats are a very flexible crop which can be used for a range of end uses and to provide disease breaks in farming systems between years for the other major cereals. The national oat breeding program focuses on the following end-uses:
- Milling – husked types
- Feed – husked and naked types
- Hay – husked types
The oat breeding program is committed to:
- developing oats for low, medium and high rainfall environments (WA, SA, VIC and southern NSW)
- improving disease resistance, yield and agronomic traits of oats
- improving quality for milling, feed and hay end-uses
- providing information about new and existing oat varieties
- value adding to improve the marketability of oats
Grain: Due to the decline in cropping areas and world trade in oats, the future of oat production is dependent on increasing specialisation of end uses, increasing identity preserved production, and developing functional food uses of the oat kernel. Value added products, including those for human foods, industrial uses, cosmetic products and pharmaceuticals are the future for oat improvement programs.
Technology will also play a large role in developing oat varieties in the future. Oat doubled haploids and molecular markers are two such technologies currently being used in the program to develop new oat varieties with combinations of desirable characteristics in a shorter time frame.
Hay: Oaten hay exports to Japan and other Asian markets is currently expanding. Consistent supply of first grade hay is essential to retain market share. Meeting the quality specifications to attain first grade hay is dependent on both variety development and environmental influences. Assessment of varieties tested by the oat breeding program for hay yield and quality and screening of all lines for disease resistance is a major component of the breeding program.
Doubled haploids in plant breeding (.PDF)
Information about the production and use of doubled haploid plants to breed true populations with the potential to produce cultivars earlier.
