The importance of oats

Oats play an important role in human and livestock nutrition, and as such an understanding of the genetics of oats is significant in world agriculture and economics.

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Australian oat varieties and a germplasm inventory for breeding

The objectives of oat breeding in Australia have varied depending on the climate, and the needs of farmers and customers in the regions in which they are grown.

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The isolection plant breeding system

The result of 34 years of oat breeding and testing of dual-purpose varieties (for grazing and grain recovery) by the NSW Department of Agriculture are summarised in this chapter.

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Welcome to Australian Oats

This website has been set up by Patrick Guerin, who emigrated to Australia in 1956 and become one of our foremost oats breeders. It contains the full text of his book, Development of High-Vigour Oat Varieties in Australia, which was written to document the important history of oats breeding in this country from the 1950s and the effect it had on our farming and livestock industries.

"Patrick's book is full of highly valuable historic data that needs to be preserved for "all time". Not only is such data valuable reference information, but as nearly always such information, when revisited, is essential for the successful development of future breeding programs. A student of future oat breeding, as well as current programs needs to understand the history to avoid reinventing the wheel and to understand the steps required to achieve important variety attributes. (Bob Freebairn OAM in the foreword to the book). You are invited to browse Patrick's book online and print sections as required for your personal use.If you would like to obtain a printed copy of the book or be kept informed of additions to this website, please notify us of your interest by registering online. The author will contact you for further details.

Patrick's book was launched at a NSW AIAST dinner on 19 April 2007 at Rydges Hotel, Missenden Road, Sydney.
 

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