Tick of approval for new lupin

A new Australian sweet lupin bred in Western Australia will provide local and national grain growers a higher yielding variety with improved disease resistance and herbicide tolerance.

The new variety named PBA Barlock was bred through a joint venture lupin breeding team funded by the Department of Agriculture and Food, Western Australia (DAFWA) and the Grains Research and Development Corporation under the umbrella of Pulse Breeding Australia.

Department grains industry director Mark Sweetingham said PBA Barlock was destined to become one the mainstays of the lupin industry for the next decade.

"It is testament to the ongoing research, development and extension work being done," Dr Sweetingham said. "The pulse breeding program by DAFWA and its co-funding partner GRDC will have tangible long term benefits to growers and the wider community."

Launching the new variety this week at the West Midlands Group Spring Field Day, DAFWA senior plant breeder Bevan Buirchell said the new variety reflected the considerable genetic gain that had occurred in the breeding program over the last decade.

"PBA Barlock ticks all the boxes, giving growers a 12 per cent higher yield than the current variety Tanjil, but also giving them protection against anthracnose and the option to use metribuzin for weed control," Dr Buirchell said.

Seen as a highly competitive crop alternative to existing varieties such as Tanjil, released in 1998, PBA Barlock is also a non-shattering replacement for the variety Mandelup.

Dr Buirchell said the lupin breeding team was able to use new DNA fingerprinting technologies developed at DAFWA over the last decade to ensure the variety had the right gene for anthracnose resistance.

The ongoing development of lupin varieties will see better herbicide tolerance, greater disease resistance, better yields and greater tolerance to environmental stresses, supporting the success of the WA grains industry," Dr Buirchell said.

DAFWA Regional Director Mike Bowley said it was likely the new variety would be taken up by growers in the State's coastal areas and then filter into the surrounding districts.

"This new lupin variety represents DAFWA's important role as an economic development agency ensuring a progressive, innovative and profitable agrifood sector that benefits all of Western Australia," Mr Bowley said.

The new variety will be available across Western Australia and nationally.