Program 4: Minimising the impact of major barley foliar pathogens on yield and profit: Screening of elite breeder material transitioning to a fee for service model.

Industry access to a reliable, high-throughput disease screening capacity is a critical component of any effort to breed effectively to counter the impact of the three barley pathogens, Pyrenophora teres f. maculata, the causal agent of the spot form of net blotch (SFNB), P. teres f. teres, that produces the net form of net blotch (NFNB), and Rhynchosporium secalis (scald). This project supports the development of high throughput and accurate NFNB, SFNB and Scald screening methods and facilities using standardised techniques, isolates, controls and well characterised testing environments. The establishment of this infrastructure will enable Australian breeders to accelerate and expand efforts to deploy new and durable NFNB, SFNB and Scald resistance in barley varieties.