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REVIEW
Contents Vol 61(9)

Perennial wheat: a review of environmental and agronomic prospects for development in Australia

Lindsay W. Bell A C D , Len J. Wade B C and Mike A. Ewing C
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations

A CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems/APSRU, PO Box 102, Toowoomba, Qld 4350, Australia.

B Charles Sturt University, EH Graham Centre for Agricultural Innovation, Locked Bag 588, Wagga Wagga, NSW 2678, Australia.

C Future Farm Industries CRC M081, The University of Western Australia, 35 Stirling Highway, Crawley, WA 6009, Australia.

D Corresponding author. Email: Lindsay.Bell@csiro.au

Crop and Pasture Science 61(9) 679-690 https://doi.org/10.1071/CP10064
Submitted: 22 February 2010  Accepted: 9 July 2010   Published: 9 September 2010

Abstract

Perennial wheat could improve grain production systems in Australia by rectifying many environmental problems such as hydrological imbalance, nutrient losses, soil erosion, and declining soil carbon and soil health. There are also potential direct production benefits from reduced external inputs, providing extra grazing for livestock in mixed farming systems, as well as benefits for whole-farm management which may offset lower grain yields. In addition to universal issues of domestication and breeding of perennial wheat, specific challenges for perennial wheat in Australia’s dryland systems will include tolerance of water deficit and poor soil environments, and the risks of hosting foliar pathogens over summer. Temperate perennial forage grasses could indicate the potential distribution and traits required in perennial wheat adapted to more arid environments (e.g. summer dormancy). Several Australian native and exotic perennial relatives of wheat could also provide sources of disease resistance, and tolerance of soil acidity, drought, salinity and waterlogging. Still, several farming systems could accommodate perennial wheat with inconsistent persistence in some environments. While developing perennial wheat will be challenging, there is significant opportunity in Australia for perennial wheat to diversify current cropping options. The risks may be minimised by staged investment and interim products with some immediate applications could be produced along the way.

Additional keywords: breeding, farming systems, perennial grains, sustainable agriculture.


Acknowledgments

We would like to thank the Grains Research and Development Corporation and the CRC for Plant-based Management of Dryland Salinity for their funding. For their participation and contribution to the workshops held on the ‘Prospects for perennial wheat in Australia’ we are also grateful to Ray Hare, Phil Eberbach, Richard Richards, Wal Anderson, Brian Dear, Neil Fettel, Steve Simpfendorfer, Tim Colmer and Rob Loughman. Thanks also go to Neil Huth, Dean Holzworth, Phil Larkin and reviewers for their comments on the paper.


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