Developing high nitrogen use efficiency barley lines

Overall Objective

The main objective of the project is to develop advanced barley lines with improved nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) by combining the best alleles for the trait and validate them in field trials.

Nitrogen (N) fertiliser is excessively applied by farmers to improve yield, however, only 30-50 % of this applied N is absorbed by crops and the rest is leached into the environment. The cost of N-based fertilisers is high (urea at an average of $500.00 per tonne) and half of this cost is incurred without any gain. We aim to develop barley lines with a 30% increase in NUE and cut down the fertiliser application and the cost by 30%.