Investment

Canola is the 3rd largest crop in Australia after wheat and barley and is the most significant oilseed crop. It is grown for both domestic and export markets with a range of uses from human food consumption to biodiesel supply. Extended periods of high temperature stress and short periods of heat shock (>30°C) during flowering and seed filling are a significant constraint to canola grain and oil yield in Australia with annual average economic losses from heat damage in Australian canola crops estimated at over $400 million. 2023 named hottest year on record as scorching temps sweep Australia. Heat waves during anthesis regularly occur in Australian canola cropping regions and are expected to occur more frequently in the future based on current climate change predictions. Therefore, grain growers require tools to reduce the impact of increasing temperatures on canola yield and quality.

This project aims to address this production constraints by creating and identifying canola breeding materials with increased heat tolerance during flowering and grain filling. In this project, new heat tolerant genes will be characterised via multi-omics approaches, heat tolerance will be enhanced by pyramiding multiple heat tolerance genes from different resources through genomic selection, and genomic estimated breeding values will be developed for heat tolerance in novel germplasm and make this available to canola breeders for their efficient integration of heat stress tolerance into their breeding programs. The project will also investigate the potentially confounding effects of drought stress with heat stress during anthesis. The practical outputs will be knowledge, germplasm and tools that will accelerate the deployment of heat/drought stress tolerant sources of B. napus in Australian canola breeding programs, leading to the genetic improvement of new canola cultivars with enhanced ability to grow productively and profitably in heat and drought prone areas of Australia.