Excellent parents have contributed significantly to the improvement of wheat in the world. This study was to determine whether the process of breeding to a founder parent has led to some enrichment of chromosomal segments of importance, and we found that specific chromosomal regins may be the basis for certain cultivar serving as a founder parent. Our study provides valuable clue on breeding novel founder parents.

Knowledge of the genes that influence grain quality, an important determinant of market value, can improve the efficiency of wheat breeding. A storage protein activator gene, Spa-B1, which is genetically linked to a known structural gene, Glu-B1, has the potential to influence grain quality. However, from statistical analyses in large wheat breeding populations that included methods for reducing incorrect results due to linkage we showed that the effects of Spa-B1 were negligible compared to the effects of Glu-B1.

A Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) approach was used to calculate greenhouse gas emissions from wheat production in central eastern NSW. We found the total carbon footprint to be 200 kg CO₂-equivalents per tonne of wheat, at the farm gate, based on a 3.5 t grain yield and calculated the relative contribution of different inputs and practices to the emissions profile. The sensitivity testing and discussion presented here provides a robust basis for ongoing environmental impact assessment, to underpin environmental product declaration and emissions reduction.

Producing genotypes with specific qualities requires knowing the effect of the environment on its yield and oil composition. The effect of intercepted solar radiation per plant on yield and oil quality of high stearic-high oleic sunflower genotypes was investigated and increases in yield and oleic/linoleic acid ratio were observed when intercepted solar radiation per plant increased. This information could be used to improve the crop management of these genotypes.

Blackleg disease is the major constraint to canola production worldwide. Until now, very few Australian cultivars have been characterised for their blackleg resistance genes. We have characterised the blackleg resistance genes in all current Australian canola cultivars. This information is essential for management strategies being implemented by farmers whereby cultivars with different resistance genes can be rotated to reduce disease.

Standing milkvetch is an important forage legume both in China and in other parts of the world, yellow stunt and root rot caused by Embellisia astragali is one of the limiting factors for the crop production. Use of disease resistant cultivar is an efficient and environmental friendly strategy for disease control. The resistances of 10 cultivars of standing milkvetch to E. astragali were evaluated. These disease resistant cultivars and time saving methods for resistance evaluation could be used in practices.

Insufficient water is the most critical threat to world food production. Fast, standard and reproducible evaluation protocol has been a pressing problem for selection of drought-resistant crops which is addressed in this research and findings indicated that stress tolerance index (STI) was the most useful criteria to select for this purpose. Identification of drought tolerance genotypes of tall fescue can lead to useful varieties for arid and semi arid environments.

Melilotus albus is recognised as an important source of forage. This study aims to evaluate the effects of selection in M. albus for late flowering and increased branching on forage yield and to evaluate the effects of selection for late flowering on photoperiodic requirements. The longer vegetative stage in the improved populations can be explained by the selection of plants which require a longer photoperiod to flower. Selection for late flowering and increased branching resulted in a population with more leaves and higher relative leaf yield.

White clover breeding has largely exploited the large-leaved, Ladino germplasm from the Po Valley. This study investigated the agronomic value of non-Ladino wild populations, which are widespread in hill and mountain areas of the Alps and northern Apennines. Most populations were acyanogenic, several exhibited high forage yield under grazing and high seed yield, and one outperformed any medium-leaved variety for forage and seed yield traits. Neighbouring populations from different collecting habitat (pasture, meadow, wasteland or woodland) differed for various characteristics.

Seedling recruitment of perennial grasses is needed to maintain grassland productivity and soil moisture available to the seed is one of the main factors that enable germination and establishment. This research reports on the development of criteria to predict recruitment events in existing pasture swards using modelled soil moisture conditions associated with the emergence of seedlings .The results showed suitable climatic conditions exist during late summer–early autumn across south-eastern Australia for a recruitment event to occur, indicating the principles developed in this paper would have wider regional application.