New Heritage Breeding for accelerated trait development in barley

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This project develops a business strategy to accelerate the breeding of crop varieties by connecting all users in the supply chain. We revived Chevalier, a Victorian premium malting barley, and discovered that it is resistant to Fusarium head blight (FHB), an important disease that contaminates grain with mycotoxins. The objectives are to 1) evaluate the agronomy, malting characteristics and brewing potential of Chevalier 2), identify and perform malting trials on FHB resistant lines from a cross between Chevalier and a modern variety; FHB resistance would reduce the need for pesticides, 3) develop a business plan for New Heritage Breeding which evaluates heritage varieties for niche markets and accelerates breeding of varieties for specific markets. The project benefits crop breeders, farmers, maltsters and consumers who will obtain new products with reduced environmental impact. The project defines a model for other crop improvement programmes.