OzBarley Initiative: Advancing barley research with cutting-edge collaboration

The OzBarley Initiative is transforming barley research in Australia with the creation of a national data asset that integrates genetic (genotypic) and trait-based (phenotypic) information. This innovative project is streamlining the development of improved barley cultivars, helping Australian farmers and plant breeders adapt to challenges like climate change, resource scarcity and increasing global food demand.

Why barley and why now?

Barley is Australia’s second most important cereal crop, planted across nearly four million hectares with up to 10 million tonnes of grain harvested annually. Australia is a key player in global barley markets, exporting up to 40 percent of the world’s premium malting barley which generates $2.3 billion in export revenue on average every year.

However, barley growers face mounting challenges, including a warming climate, water scarcity, declining soil health and rising costs of production. To stay competitive and meet global demand, innovative solutions are needed to improve barley’s performance and resilience. The OzBarley Initiative addresses these challenges by creating a comprehensive database of barley cultivars, making the research process faster, more efficient and cost-effective.

How OzBarley makes a difference

The OzBarley genome-to-phenome (G2P) project consolidates essential germplasm along with genotypic and phenotypic data, enabling researchers to identify desirable traits and genetic markers with ease. By applying FAIR (findable, accessible, interoperable, reusable) data principles, OzBarley accelerates breeding efforts while reducing costs.

Before the establishment of advanced infrastructure, breeding a single barley cultivar could take more than a decade. OzBarley will help to accelerate this process by providing researchers access to pre-curated data or run experiments using the database, saving years of preparatory work and hundreds of thousands of dollars on individual projects.

Fast-tracking research through collaboration

Key to OzBarley’s success is its ability to leverage existing infrastructure and expertise through the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS) network. The initiative has combined contributions from:

• Australian Plant Phenomics Network (APPN): Provided facilities for growing and phenotyping barley plants.
• Bioplatforms Australia (BPA): Offered genotyping infrastructure and data processing capabilities.
• Australian Research Data Commons (ARDC): Supported data management and the development of a publicly accessible platform.

Additionally, the Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC) supported the completion and launch of the OzBarley G2P data platform, along with genotyping and inclusion of 500 globally sourced barley landraces in the OzBarley database; expanding the resource offerings of OzBarley.

These collaborations reduced the time and cost of the project, enabling researchers to access genotypic and phenotypic data for over 700 unique barley lines in record time.

Economic and environmental benefits

OzBarley’s contributions extend beyond research. Faster access to genetic markers for traits like drought tolerance, salt resistance and disease resilience will directly benefit farmers, food and beverage industries, and exporters. Moreover, the initiative’s collaborative and open-access approach offers a blueprint for similar projects in other crops including from wheat, legumes, oilseeds, pastures and horticultural crops.

Looking ahead

Through a partnership with GRDC, the initiative has been expanded to include open-access field trials of the OzBarley elite panel across New South Wales, South Australia and Western Australia. These trials provide researchers with opportunities to measure traits of interest in commercially relevant genotypes without the financial burden of establishing their own field sites. The researcher also benefit from the pre-existing genotypic and cross-omics datasets to truly explore the genetic drivers of their traits. By integrating the collected data into the OzBarley database, the project creates lasting data infrastructure, enabling future research and addressing emerging questions.

This collaborative and multidisciplinary approach accelerates the development of solutions to critical global challenges, including climate change, food security and sustainable farming practices. Additional trials planned for 2025 will build on this success, promoting further collaboration and innovation within the research community.

As researchers and breeders increasingly utilise the OzBarley platform, the initiative is poised to deliver significant long-term economic, societal and environmental benefits, ensuring Australia remains a global leader in sustainable barley production.

OzBarley received investment from the Australian Plant Phenomics Network (APPF), the Australian Research Data Commons (ARDC) (doi.org/10.47486/XN001), and Bioplatforms Australia. These capabilities were enabled by the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS). The project also benefited significantly from the participation and contributions of the Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC) (Grant ID: UOA2306-010RTX), industry partners (Australian Grain Technologies [AGT], InterGrain, and Secobra Recherches), and public research organisations (the University of Adelaide, CSIRO, Charles Sturt University, Australian Genome Research Facility [AGRF], Australian Grains Genebank [AGG], and the James Hutton Institute).

26 February 2025