GrainCorp-AWB merger

There continues to be significant change within Australia's grain industry, not the least of which is the recently announced merger between GrainCorp and AWB. GrainCorp's newly-appointed CEO, Ms Alison Watkins, will have the role of consolidating GrainCorp's position and the CRCNPB wishes her every success in this endeavour.

In collaboration with GrainCorp and other members of Australia's grain industry, CRCNPB has established a cutting edge research program for stored grains. A specific focus of this collaboration is on resistance to phosphine in stored grain insect pests, with projects reviewing phosphine application techniques to improve effectiveness, developing new fumigation protocols in response to identified resistant insect populations, and research to identify genetic resistance mechanisms.

Other collaborative projects include the review of sampling processes used to test for contaminants and work on a biosensor, which attempts to mimic the way stored grain insects locate each other in order to identify the presence of insects in storages.

Along with the commercial and economic imperatives faced by GrainCorp, biosecurity issues such as crop yields, product integrity and pest and disease freedom to retain market access, remain a real risk to the industry and we look forward to continuing to work with GrainCorp and other industry sectors in addressing these threats.