Innovation in grain production
Plant breeding
Cross breeding different varieties of plants can bring the desirable properties
from different varieties into one new variety. It takes many years to slowly
alter and improve the genetic material of domesticated plants to successfully
achieve a new grain variety.
Desirable properties include:
Genetic modification
The use of genetic modification is gaining importance as a way to increase food
production, improve nutrient content and provide better processing and storage
characteristics.
Genetic modification uses new technology, based on a better understanding of genetics at a molecular level, to achieve the same goals as traditional plant breeding more quickly and more precisely. Instead of cross-breeding plants for several years to acquire a desired trait, scientists can insert a single gene responsible for a particular trait into a plant relative. The main difference between the two approaches is that genetic modification allows the introduction of desirable properties from one organism into another completely unrelated organism which would not occur readily in nature.
Genetically modified (GM) varieties of field peas, wheat, barley and lupins have been trialled in Australia but they have not been released.
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