A NEW $4 million deal to fight grain diseases has been signed by the Victorian Government and the grain industry's top researcher.
The project involving the Grains Research and Development Corporation aims to reduce hundreds of millions of dollars worth of crop losses in southern Australia.
GRDC estimates that diseases cost $323 million for wheat and $126 million for barley annually in Australia’s southern region, one third of which covers Victoria.
Agriculture Minister Joe Helper said the investment would help reduce this costly loss.
"A range of research and extension activities will be undertaken to assist Victorian grain growers reduce losses associated with disease," Mr Helper said.
"Research will be carried out to study viral diseases in wheat and the cereal disease crown rot, which has become a bigger issue over drier seasons of the past 15 years."
Mr Helper said four new staff would be based out of Horsham to work with existing staff to investigate rusts in wheat, including stripe rust, which emerged in a different form in 2003 and has been a significant issue since.
"For barley growers we are hoping to make good progress with resistance to Spot Form of Net Blotch, one of the most common diseases in Victorian barley crops," he said.
Department of Primary Industries deputy secretary of agriculture research and development, Dr Bruce Kefford, said research would also be carried out on screening for diseases in National Variety Trials and to obtain a better understanding of nematodes, including root lesion nematodes and cereal cyst nematode.
"Pulse growers will benefit from research to better understand and control viruses and fungal diseases in pulses, one of the highest value crops in the rotation," Mr Kefford said.
GRDC managing director Peter Reading said Victorian croppers were losing more than $130 million annually to wheat and barley diseases.
"We are hoping this important work will help create new tools and understanding in the battle against costly cropping diseases," Mr Reading said.
"We are very glad that we can build on what has been a long term relationship between the GRDC and the Victorian Government."
Projects will last for 12 months to three years and be led by DPI Senior Research scientists Dr Grant Hollaway and Dr Angela Freeman.
