Optimising Canola Production in Diverse Australian Growing Environments

Canola growers in Australia need to be able to select varieties that will perform optimally in their local growing conditions. The timing of flowering is an important factor in determining sowing time and avoiding frost, heat and terminal drought. This project will generate genome marker, gene expression and phenotype datasets from a diverse range of Australian and global canola varieties in both controlled environment and multi-site field trials. It will then use 'big data' analysis methods to identify the genetic and environmental pathways that control the timing of flowering in Australian and global canola varieties. This will enable canola breeders to select optimal combinations of flowering time gene alleles to deliver new varieties adapted to Australian growing environments, thereby assisting growers to choose varieties and sowing dates to optimise crop yield.