Canola

Canola (or rapeseed), Brassica napus, is an oilseed crop which is cultivated for its high quality edible oil used in many foods (eg. margarines and cooking oil) and seed meal (the fibrous material left after the oil pressing process), which has a high protein content making it highly desirable as a stock feed.

Canola has been grown in Australia's southern grain belt since 1969. Victoria produces about 15 - 20% of the national crop, worth around A$130 million per annum to the State. Across Australia, approximately 1.1 million hectares of canola was sown for 2008-09. Canola also has a beneficial effect on wheat by reducing soil-borne diseases when it is incorporated as part of the rotation system. Wheat produced following canola has a 20% yield benefit over wheat following wheat, providing an additional 500,000 tonnes to the national wheat crop.

GM Canola

Control of weeds, particularly weeds from the Brassicaceae family (broadleaf), through herbicide application during the canola-growing season, has a significant impact on quantity and quality of the grain produced. Weeds compete for space, nutrients and sunlight which can ultimately lead to significant yield losses in the crop and contamination of the bulk seed if they are present at harvest.

Two genetically modified (GM) canola varieties have been developed in Australia, Roundup Ready^® (by Monsanto Australia Ltd) and InVigor^® (by Bayer CropSciences Pty Ltd). To be most effective, each variety has been developed to be tolerant to and hence used with a specific herbicide under a defined crop management plan.

Roundup Ready^® GM canola includes tolerance to the herbicide glyphosate. InVigor^® GM canola includes tolerance to the herbicide glufosinate. Company trials and experience from growing these crops overseas have shown that GM canola produced under its defined crop management plan offers superior weed control (compared with current practices), higher yields and management savings. The herbicides used on these crops are more ‘soft’ on the environment, compared to some ‘harsher’ herbicides used on non-GM canola.

GM canola was grown commercially for the first time in Victoria and NSW in 2008. Roundup Ready^®, which was the only GM canola available last season, has been approved for use by the Office of the Gene Technology Regulator (OGTR). Approximately 10,000 hectares of Roundup Ready^® canola was planted in Victoria and NSW and, despite unseasonally dry conditions, approximately 9,300 tonnes of GM canola was harvested. Reports from farmers who planted GM canola indicate a high level of satisfaction, including improved weed control compared with other canola varieties. Approximately 40,000 hectares of Roundup Ready^® canola has been planted in 2009 across Victoria and NSW.