The fight against Mycotoxins

Pacific Seeds is doing its bit to try and overcome the increasingly complex issue of mycotoxins in corn grain. This is often more commonly recognised as “dead grain” resulting from fungi growing in the grain. Aspergillus, Fusarium and Penicillium species are the most important mycotoxin producers.

According to the company’s corn breeder, Paul Newell (pictured below) there is no doubt the incidence of mycotoxins in all grains and particularly corn is commonly associated with stress during grain fill to maturity.

“In our harsher environment this induced stress could be attributed to a singular form of stress or often a combination of readily available soil moisture, excessive heat, insect or bird damage,” he said.

“By having an active local corn breeding program here in Australia, with our objective to develop corn hybrids that are specifically bred and selected for adaptation to the Australian environment and market specifications, we are able to eliminate a lot of hybrids before getting to the market place.”

With such an extensive research trialing program being conducted from the bottom of Victoria to north Queensland each year, with 13 trials being 

planted, Mr Newell said it gives the company good coverage of all growing environments in Australia.

“As well as a wide-scale testing program, there are two breeding nursery locations with breeding material screened each year on a late plant under high disease pressure.”

“In more recent years this is one of the main reasons why Pacific Seeds hybrids have been much cleaner of cob and grain disease’s compared to hybrids lifted straight out of the corn belt in the USA or hybrids that have been selected in the softer environments of southern Australia.”

Even this current season’s crop in the major corn growing area of Australia (MIA based around Griffith), Pacific Seeds’ hybrids are showing far lower levels of fungi contamination than other hybrids being grown.

“If cob diseases continue to be a real issue we may see in the future slightly lower yielding hybrids but with much better resistance to stress and therefore cob rots. The emphasis on local breeding definitely has a significant advantage in overcoming local environmental stresses,” Mr Newell said.”