![Reece Crocker, postdoctoral researcher from Perth working in Frankfurt, Germany, through the GRDC / Bayer Herbicide Innovation Partnership. Photo: Bayer Reece Crocker, postdoctoral researcher from Perth working in Frankfurt, Germany, through the GRDC / Bayer Herbicide Innovation Partnership. Photo: Bayer](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/5Q2j7ezUfQBfUJsaqK3gfB/2ea28118-b3c0-4c6c-8cca-d7e8cfca9dc0.jpg/r0_376_4032_3028_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
A CRITICAL joint venture between the Grains Research and Development Corporation and Bayer will be extended for a further four years to 2025, with the GRDC to chip in an additional $36 million.
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The public / private partnership, the Herbicide Innovation Partnership (HIP) aimed at discovering innovative weed management solutions specifically for Australia, was first set up in 2015.
So far the HIP has identified several promising forms of chemistry that may lead to elusive new modes of action to help reduce the risk of weed resistance to existing forms of chemical control.
Any breakthroughs would mean a massive boost for grain growers, with the GRDC saying weeds cost Australian grain growers a whopping $3.3 billion a year.
Weed resistance is also a growing problem, with Australia having the second highest number of herbicide resistant weeds in the world, behind only the US.
GRDC acting general manager crop protection Ken Young, said the project, one of the GRDC's flagship investments, was designed to speed up the research pipeline.
"The GRDC was also cognisant of the slow pace of innovation in global herbicide discovery, and particularly innovative new resistance-busting modes of action," Dr Young said.
"These factors remain a priority for Australian growers and are arguably more pressing now than five years ago when the HIP collaboration was initiated."
Dr Young said there was significant lag time between identifying a promising compound and a new product hitting the market.
"It takes a minimum of 10-12 years to bring any compound through the pipeline to commercial development," he said.
"However, progress to date has been significant and the HIP investment has developed a strong early-stage pipeline of herbicide field candidates to deliver new weed control technology to Australian growers, providing both partners with the impetus and confidence to invest for a further four years."
Bayer Australia managing director, Joerg Ellmanns, said the partnership meant Australian growers were at the front of the queue when it came to product development.
"The Herbicide Innovation Partnership between Bayer and the GRDC places Australian weed species at the centre of discovery for the next generation of sustainable weed control," Mr Ellmanns said.
HIP phase two will involve a continued focus on the search for new modes of action, along with field testing at various global locations, including Australia, to ensure efficacy under Australian conditions.
A total of 12 Australian weeds are subject to testing by Bayer under glasshouse conditions, while additional species are taken into account within field testing in Australia.