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Cultivar development is a crucial technological component of agriculture. Maintaining genetic gain means that farmers can access cultivars that can cope with disease, insect and environmental stresses which reduces dependency on pesticides and natural resources such as water. Cultivar development also provides consumers with a superior and healthier product that is produced sustainably.

Due to the size of segregating populations, plant breeding programs are often limited by the ability to identify superior individuals. The advent of field-based sensors to measure traits coupled with artificial intelligence and machine learning is enabling breeders to select for conventional traits faster and identify novel traits that are otherwise not detectable by the human eye to develop and accelerate plant improvement. Our lab focuses on developing and implementing plant phenomics tools in plant breeding programs for agronomic traits as well as quality traits.

Breeding and achieving genetic gain for complex traits with low heritability is a difficult task given the intricate nature of plant genomes and the multiple interactions that occur among the large numbers of genes controlling complex traits as well as the dynamics of traits with low heritability within segregating populations. Our lab focuses on using large DNA marker arrays to target candidate quantitative trait loci (QTL) and identify new sources of genetic variation for breeding and selection. Our lab studies how complex traits and their effects can be predicted and modelled to establish the magnitude of achievable gain for cultivar development using statistical genetics and next generation sequencing.

Pulses are legumes that contribute nitrogen to farming systems and reduce dependency on inorganic nitrogen. They are a cheap and dense source of protein, energy and micronutrients, contrary to animal production systems.

We research novel ways of increasing the nutrient content and sensory experience of pulse crops, this has a direct impact on alleviating disorders associated with malnutrition while providing greater palatability and enjoyment of pulses and pulse products.

Research outputs from our lab provide new insight on the applications of pulses and pulse-derived products that can be used to create an edge in the market and promote new businesses and market trends.