23 August 2023, AU: Pioneer® Brand Seeds, along with Corteva Agriscience™, are jointly sponsoring the International Rapeseed Congress (IRC) in Sydney, 24–27 September 2023.
Staged in a different global city every four years, congress organisers have announced a huge research-focussed program for the showcase rapeseed gathering, which this year explores the theme: Global Crop – Golden Opportunities.
As well as hearing world-leading crop scientists outline the latest canola (mostly referred to as rapeseed in Europe) discoveries in genetics, genomics and breeding, more than 450 delegates from around the world will be in Sydney to learn about canola agronomy, physiology, crop protection – and the latest canola market trends.
Before the congress gets under way, many of the delegates are expected to take advantage of a special field day being offered at a Pioneer Brand Seeds trial site in Wagga Wagga.
Territory Sales Manager Luke Gooden says he expects about 110 IRC delegates and more than 200 farmers and agronomists to attend a pre-conference field day in Wagga Wagga on Friday, 22 September.
“We’ll be demonstrating trials of our new third-generation, glyphosate tolerant Optimum GLY® canola technology (population/fertiliser) as well as a knockdown pre-emergence and post-emergence trial,” he says.
Respected former Pioneer® Brand Seeds senior business manager Rob Wilson, one of the IRC 2023 organisers, says it’s a great honour for Australia to host another international rapeseed congress because Australia hosted an IRC in Canberra just fourteen years ago.
“This is a very significant conference where we’ll be learning about new data concerning climate change, new directions in canola breeding and the many changes happening in canola agronomy.”
One of the keynote speakers at IRC 2023 is Corteva Agriscience Research Director Seed Product Development Dr Steve King.
Based in Canada, Dr King leads Corteva’s global breeding teams for canola, wheat and sorghum, the research units behind the new third-generation, glyphosate tolerant Optimum GLY canola technology being released commercially in Australia in 2024.
No stranger to Down Under, Dr King completed his PhD in Molecular Plant Physiology at the Australian National University. His keynote for the congress will address: “Increasing the value of canola (Brassica napus L.) meal through breeding for higher protein and decreased fibre contents.”
