Planting the future: opportunities and challenges for using ... - EASAC

total value of food exports (2010–11) was 27.1 billion
Australian dollars. Australia is hence very well positioned
to increase share of exports to satisfy increased food
demands in Asia due to population increase and change
of diets. The government proposes a target of doubling
the value of food exports by 2030.
A report produced by the Australian Bureau of
Agricultural and Resource Economics (Acworth et al.,
2008) presented a quantitative assessment of the
potential economic benefits of further GM crop adoption
in Australia at the regional and state levels. Crops
considered included canola, soybean, maize, wheat and
rice. The report concludes that delaying GM crop uptake
in Australia while emerging economies continue to
increase uptake will have adverse impacts on Australian
exports. In the simulations, the adoption of GM crops is
estimated to benefit the Australian economy even in the
scenario where GM crops are restricted in foreign markets
(such as the EU; Acworth et al., 2008).
4.3 Research
The Australian Government’s total investment in science,
research and innovation was estimated at $9.08 billion
in 2010–11, up from $4.97 billion in 2002–03 (DAFF,
2012). Australia’s national science organisation, the
Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research
Organisation (CSIRO), has a portfolio of research
programs across the entire food chain, from farm to
consumer. In 2011–12, CSIRO’s total investment in food,
health and life sciences research was estimated to be
approximately $337 million, including external revenue
of about $137 million 53 . Research supported by CSIRO
has to be aligned with the priorities of one or more of the
National Research Flagships 54 .
Food Futures 55 is the National Research Flagship
aimed at increasing the ability of Australia to produce
clean, healthy foods efficiently. By applying frontier
technologies to high-potential industries, the Flagship’s
goal is to add 3 billion Australian dollars annually of
value to the Australian agricultural food sector. Future
grains, grain based foods and feed 56 , one of the three
key research areas of the Food Futures Flagship, applies
advanced genetics to develop novel, high-value grains
and oilseeds.
Main initiatives include the following:
• CSIRO formed a public–private partnership with an
international company to increase yield in wheat
through genetic modification. CSIRO has developed a
wheat variety that produces significantly more grain
(up to 30% increase in yield in glasshouse trials) and the
partnership aims to bring this technology to the market.
• Arista Cereal Technologies is a joint public–private
venture with an European company aiming to deliver
new high-amylose wheat varieties developed using
RNAi gene silencing techniques to suppress two
of the key genes involved in starch formation. The
new wheat features a high proportion of amylose
(an increase from 25 to 70% compared with
conventional varieties), a slowly digested form of
resistant starch that can be used to formulate foods
with a low glycaemic index. Consumption of these
grains is expected to reduce the incidence of dietrelated
conditions such as type 2 diabetes, obesity,
cardiovascular disease and colorectal cancers (Regina
et al., 2006).
• The High Fibre Grains Collaboration Cluster combines
the research capabilities of the three Australian
universities to develop healthy complex cereal
carbohydrates. Genetic manipulation strategies are
used to optimise the content and composition of the
major cell wall polysaccharides, the largest source of
grain fibres. The cluster will generate elite transgenic
events and parental non-transgenic germplasm
capable of effective and rapid commercialisation
through industry partnerships. Research will focus on
wheat, barley and rice.
• CSIRO have joined forces with the largest European
wheat seed company to commercialise nitrogen use
efficiency wheat in Australia.
• A public–private research collaboration aiming
to develop through genetic manipulation oilseed
varieties with high-quality long chain omega-3 oils
containing docosahexaenoic acid, traditionally only
found in ocean-based algae and fish (Venegas-
Calerón et al., 2010; Petrie and Singh, 2011; Petrie
et al., 2012). The initiative aims to be trialling elite lines
as early as 2013 and have seeds commercially available
by 2016. These varieties would break the world’s
reliance on fish for these oils.
Wheat and oilseed rape are two key crops for European
agriculture. It is noteworthy that most of the initiatives
described above rely on fundamental research performed
in European laboratories (Sun et al., 1998; Regina et al.,
2006; Venegas-Calerón et al., 2010) and which will be
53
http://daff.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0009/2175156/national-food-plan-green-paper-072012.pdf.
54
http://www.csiro.au/en/Organisation-Structure/Flagships.aspx.
55
http://www.csiro.au/org/FFF-overview.
56
The goal of Food Futures is to transform the international competitiveness of the Australian agrifood sector, adding 3 billion
Australian dollars annually, by applying frontier technologies to high potential industries. Please refer to the website for additional
information on specific projects: http://www.csiro.au/Organisation-Structure/Flagships/Food-Futures-Flagship.aspx.
EASAC Planting the future | June 2013 | 49