Australia: New barley varieties to aid growers and Asian customers

ABB Grain Ltd. Announced on March 23 that Australian barley growers and exports to Asia are poised to receive a major boost with the release of two new barley varieties by the University of Adelaide’s Barley Breeding Program.

The new malting barley variety Flagship™ is forecast to set a new standard for malting quality for Japanese, Chinese and South-East Asia malting and brewing markets.

The university’s Adelaide Research and Innovation arm has chosen ABB Grain as its partner for commercialisation of the new varieties – Flagship and Fleet™. Although different, the varieties (developed by Dr Jason Eglinton’s team) offer major benefits for the barley industry and growers.

Flagship is developed specifically for the large brewing and malting markets in South-East Asia, China and Japan. It’s shown a 7% increase in grain yield over the current industry standard, and improved disease resistance.

Using plant biotechnology techniques, Flagship was developed for commercial release in eight years, instead of the usual 12 to 14.

Fleet is a feed barley with improved disease resistance and a 5% yield advantage over the established variety Barque. It’s shown improved adaptation to poor soil types, producing even higher yield gains in the sandy soils common in major barley growing areas of SA and western Victoria.

The university developed Flagship and Fleet with support from the Grains Research and Development Corporation and private investment by the barley industry through the Malting Barley Quality Improvement Program.

ABB needs to complete the full market evaluation and development process before detailing availability of seed for growers. This process includes pilot brewing and sending container loads to international customers of malting barley and malt to ensure Flagship receives favourable market acceptance.

The commercial launch of these new varieties again demonstrates the value of combining university-based R&D with strong industry partnerships.

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