Saving our cereals: fungal infection prevention saves billions of dollars and secures food supply | The University of Sydney

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The University of Sydney
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The Problem Solver Award
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Cereal rust diseases pose a serious threat to wheat, barley and oat production worldwide. Wheat rusts alone cause annual losses of 5.47 million tonnes globally.

Professor Robert Park’s vision led to the creation of the Australian Cereal Rust Control Program, the only research program in the world that fully integrates pathology, genetics and pre-breeding. The centre collaborates with privately funded cereal breeding programs, ensuring the research directly benefits farmers.

This research on cereal rust pathology and genetics has significantly boosted the economic viability of agricultural production.

The Australian Government’s Grains Research and Development Corporation estimates that genetic resistance to wheat and barley alone saves the Australian economy $1.09 billion annually. Professor Park’s research group contributes 60 per cent of this, amounting to over $600 million in Australia and billions globally.

Finalist - Professor Robert Park

"Through this work and its uptake by all Australian cereal breeding companies, Professor Park’s work has had huge impacts on the economic viability of cereal production. Cereals are the most important of our food plants and Park’s group has played a pivotal role in the breeding of cereal cultivars that carry in-built genetic resistance to stem, leaf and stripe rust, a troika of the most feared cereal diseases. Cereal rusts cause significant losses in Australia, with several independent assessments estimating the potential impact of cereal rust epidemics at well over $100 million per year. A more detailed assessment in 2009 estimated the potential annual damage bill at ~ $168 million for wheat and barley alone. These benefits directly improve the bottom-line of all ~23,000 Australian wheat producers."

Dr Jeremy J Burdon FAA, FTSE

"Monitoring cereal rust pathogens throughout Australia is another important part of the rust control program led by Robert Park. This constant surveying involves close liaison with other researchers, agronomist and farmers, and is essential for early detection of new rust strains, for monitoring which rust strains are active, and for devising control strategies."

Robert Freebairn OAM (WDA, HDRE)

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