| Australian Grain Technologies Pty Ltd (AGT) was first established in June 2002 as part of a national initiative to re-focus and re-position Australia’s wheat breeding efforts in a rapidly changing, highly competitive, global economy.
The orginal shareholders of AGT were Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC), the South Australian Research and Development Institute (SARDI), and the University Adelaide (UA).
AGT began by consolidating more than 100 years of wheat breeding activities formerly managed by UA at both the Waite and Roseworthy Campuses with those undertaken by the Victoria Department of Agriculture (now Department of Primary Industries) at Horsham. These south-eastern Australia focussed programs have dominated the total area sown to wheat in Australia for more than 30 years.
Through the consolidating of these three large former wheat-breeding programs AGT established major breeding operations at Roseworthy in South Australia and Horsham in Victoria.
In 2003 AGT took over the management and operations of the National Triticale Improvement Program (NTIP) funded by GRDC and formerly conducted under the auspices of the UA.
In 2005 AGT merged with SunPrime Seeds Pty Ltd, which brought the following to AGT:
- Additional shareholders in the form of the University of Sydney and GrainCorp Limited.
- The most successful wheat-breeding program in northern Australia.
- Australia’s only hybrid wheat breeding program.
- A successful seed production and commercialisation capability.
In 2007, the formal establishment of a major breeding operation in Western Australia was created in the form of a partnership between AGT and the Council of Grain Grower Organisation (COGGO).
This partnership brought together breeding expertise, germplasm resources, grower input, financial resources, seed production resources and a strong capability and presence in the very important Western Australian market.
In July 2008, Vilmorin & Cie wholly owned subsidiary of Limagrain Holdings purchased a 25% shareholding in AGT.
Limagrain a french-based grower-owned cooperative is a global leader in plant breeding, seed production and commercialisation. It is the fourth largest seed company in the world operating through subsidiaries in more than 30 countries.
In 2009, both the University of Sydney and GrainCorp Limited sold their shareholdings to the GRDC and Vilmorin & Cie.
Our vision is to be the breeder of choice of field crops for Australian farmers and global consumers.
Australian Grain Technologies Board
Ron Storey, GRDC (Chair)
Rod Birch, GRDC
Michel Debrand, Limagrain
Bob Hansen, GRDC
Roger Leigh, University of Adelaide
Rob Lewis, SARDI
Jim Simon, Limagrain
National Wheat Breeding Strategy
Seed Production and Commercialisation
Wheat Quality Assessment Capability
National Triticale Improvement Program
Durum Breeding
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