SRA PLANT BREEDING PROGRAM—ANNUAL BENCHMARKS

NEW VARIETIES are the backbone of the Australian sugar industry and have been regarded widely as a major contributor to maintaining profitability and sustainability. Without new, disease-resistant varieties, the impact of major disease incursions such as smut (2006), orange rust (2000), brown rust (1978) and Fiji leaf gall (1969) would have been catastrophic to the industry. The preparedness of the breeding program for sugarcane smut has been a major factor in minimising losses from this disease, potentially saving the industry at least $100M. SRA annually reviews the breeding program using a number of different benchmarks. These include: number of new varieties released; percent production of new varieties; percent production of varieties with Plant Breeders’ Rights (PBR); rate of genetic gain; average time to release; and weighted average disease ratings of commercial varieties. These benchmarks can be expressed on a state or regional basis and target achievement standards have been set for most benchmarks. These benchmarks are generally monitored over years to detect any trends. The benchmarks are automatically derived in the plant breeding database (SPIDNet) annually, once the mill data for the new season have been updated. This paper discusses these benchmarks and reports on the current achievement of the program against these benchmarks.