COGGO grant recipients set to share in $380,000 for ‘small, catalytic’ research to benefit grain growers

The Council of Grain Grower Organisations has announced its annual Research Fund recipients with four, two-year projects at two universities, the CSIRO and the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development set to share in $380,000.

COGGO — a public company formed by grain growers in 2000 — runs an annual grants scheme bankrolled by WA grain farmers who contribute a voluntary 0.5 per cent levy on the net farm gate value of grain they sell.

The Research Fund has a focus on “small, catalytic” research and development projects of relevance to the State’s grain growers.

The organisation revealed it had received expressions of interest from 23 applicants from industry, government, grower groups and research organisations across WA’s grain-growing areas for the 2022 funding round after opening EOIs in July last year.

The successful-two year projects included:

• Murdoch University ($149,862): Preventing bacterial induced ice nucleation to increase productivity of grains.

• CSIRO ($149,405): Identifying opportunities to integrate a spring-sown summer crop into winter wheat-based cropping system in WA

• Murdoch University ($99,805): Identify and combine the best alleles from two genes to achieve maximum pod shattering resistance in narrow-leafed lupins

• Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development ($73,271): Using high throughput sequencing technology to transform disease surveillance

COGGO chair Rhys Turton said the projects would support the profitability and sustainability of the WA grains industry.

“We have a long history of providing catalytic funding for new research and development ideas and have seen many past recipients make a significant impact on returns for WA grain growers,” he said.

“Our members voluntarily contribute 0.5 per cent of their own net farm-gate returns for which we are very grateful, this in turn then enables COGGO to fund new projects in the areas of plant breeding and associated research and development.”

To find out more or access an expression of interest form, visit giwa.org.au/ coggoresearchfund or phone 6262 2128.