Cereal production makes a critical contribution to global food security. Over the past two decades, the world has witnessed multiple crises erupt over the social and political instability caused by rising costs for staple cereals. The increasing frequency and magnitude of extreme events also place higher risk on production. Solutions to ensuring future food security lie in increasing productivity and profitability in regions of the world where different cereal crops have traditionally been grown along with support for targeted expansion or replacement strategies in climatically suitable areas. Both components rely heavily on understanding the genetics of major plant processes and delivery of these through innovations in plant breeding.

Our research uses genetic and physiological approaches to understand key drivers of adaptation responses to current and future production environments, to test if nitrogen fertilisers can be more effectively used in large-scale cereal production and to determine if plant architecture can be optimised to fulfil the multi-functional roles of the plant canopy for a range of end uses. We also aim to develop open source, easy to use and low-cost methods to accelerate cereal crop genetic research, plant breeding and crop management.

We are strong advocates for ensuring equitable agricultural impacts and outcomes, for growing the next generation of crop scientists and for communicating the importance of crop science research to deliver a sustainable and food secure future.