Investment

The low profitability of some pulse production in Australia can be addressed by enhancing crop productivity, in addition to creating markets. Chickpea, lentil and faba bean production encounter challenges due to limited genetic diversity, resulting in meagre yield improvements of less than 0.5 per cent per year. The primary cause of this genetic stagnation in pulse breeding programs is the use of a narrow range of genetic material, making these crops susceptible to environmental stresses and hindering progress in developing higher-yielding varieties, especially in the face of climate change. Recognising the pivotal role of genetic diversity in crop improvement, recent advancements in genomic technologies and breeding methods provide promising opportunities. By incorporating genetic diversity from landraces and employing cutting-edge technologies such as genomic prediction, speed breeding, and AI-guided precision breeding, there is potential to achieve an unprecedented 1.5 per cent increase in genetic gain for these pulse crops.

This project aims to establish diverse germplasm collections (around 200-300 accessions) for chickpea, lentil and faba bean. These germplasm collections will be characterised at the genome level through sequencing/genotyping and evaluated for yield and agronomic traits across various locations in four states in Australia over a two-year period. Simultaneously, diverse germplasm accessions for the three target pulse crops will be imported from the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) to Australia. The resulting comprehensive datasets will be analysed to develop haplotype catalogues at both chromosome and gene levels. Subsequently, genomic prediction, AI and speed breeding approaches will be employed to identify and stack novel and superior haplotypes for yield and yield-related traits. Ultimately, the project aims to develop 'PulseBase', a platform for hosting datasets generated through this project alongside other relevant existing datasets. This holistic approach aims to contribute to the development of robust, high-yielding pulse varieties adapted to diverse environmental conditions, benefiting Australian pulse growers and advancing breeding programs.

Our aim is that by 2027, Australian pulse breeders will have access to knowledge, tools/technologies and novel sources of germplasm to broaden genetic diversity of elite cultivars to drive grain yield genetic improvement. The grower impact of this investment is that by 2032 Australian pulse growers in the northern, southern and western regions have access to improved, higher yielding, disease resistant and locally adapted pulse varieties that underpin profitable farming systems for their target production environment.