The 13th Australasian Plant Breeding Conference was held in Christchurch NZ, April 18-21. This

is the primary conference relating to plant breeding activities in Australia and New Zealand and

had six core themes: benefits from plant improvement, added value products, population

improvement, plant gene technologies, genetic resources and environmental challenges. I

presented a paper outlining the impact of transgenic cotton on the Australian cotton industry and

the lessons learnt for plant breeders (copy attached).

Of major importance to my research in this area is to remain up-to-date in all areas relating to

plant improvement and specifically in the areas of plant gene technologies and population

improvement. Other specific topics of interest discussed were: economic assessment of plant

breeding benefits; market focus; and influence of market size and recruitment and retention of

plant breeders.

Immediately following the conference was a three day Plant Breeding Master Class run by Prof

Duane Falk from the University of Guelph, Canada and Prof Wallace Cowling from the

University of Western Australia. The objective of the Master Class was to challenge participants’

understanding of the value of application of quantitative genetic principles to plant improvement,

and to discuss the role of current, breeder-driven technologies to achieve improved outcomes.

The idea was to challenge the way things are currently done, with the aim to have participants

step back and re-evaluate their procedures and efficiency.

Conclusions and benefits

Overall, the Plant Breeding Conference was well organised and well run. There was a good mix

of presentations detailing a range of crops and techniques, however, as with many conferences in

recent years, molecular presentations dominated more than they should. The conference provided

an opportunity for interaction with a very diverse group of breeders. It was particularly

interesting and beneficial to compare notes with the NZ breeders regarding the organisational and

funding structure of breeding in NZ. The quasi-commercial model using state owned entities

really seems to work for their situation. I also gained some valuable insights from the case

studies on fruit breeding that were presented and I think some aspects could be more broadly

applied in Australia. Some of the statistical analyses examining the success of various breeding

programs were interesting and as a benchmark the CSIRO breeding program appears to be doing

very well. Several of these programs also specified very ambitious targets, similar to what we

have proposed for our program in doubling the rate of yield increase.

Participation in the three day Plant Breeding Master Class was an excellent experience. It reintroduced

some of the basic plant breeding concepts and simplified what breeders are trying to

achieve. It also introduced some advanced concepts and techniques in population plant breeding,

with practical examples of how they can be applied. It did allow me to step back and assess the

way that we currently do things. My observation is that the techniques and procedures that we

are currently using compare very well to the best examples that were presented. However, there

are some areas where I will be evaluating some new procedures and these are detailed below in

the presentation of my case study.