EVOLVING PROCEDURES FOR THE EVALUATION AND COMMERCIALISATION OF HERBAGE PLANTS IN QUEENSLAND
Queensland derives a significant part of its Gross Domestic Product from grazing-based livestock industries. The dairy industry and sectors within the beef and sheep industries depend on sown pastures using exotic germplasm as a primary or significant source of forage for the grazing animal. If these industries are to continue to play a part in the State’s economy, it will be important to maintain processes within the State to provide forage varieties that are relevant to industry needs as these emerge. Forage varieties have also found application in cropping systems, horticulture, and soil conservation. Traditionally, public sector agencies, supported in part by industry funding bodies, bore the largest part of the responsibility for plant improvement research. As agricultural research moves more towards development of partnerships with the private sector, so too must the process of pasture plant improvement evolve to maintain a transparent and responsible system of plant release.