| Project name | Australian Pastures Genebank Germplasm Restoration |
| Funding bodies | South Australian Research and Development Institute |
| Chief Investigators | Dr Rowan Smith, Mr Gary Martin |
TIA is leading the temperate grasses regeneration program for the Australian Pastures Genebank, to ensure the quality and diversity of pasture species germplasm is preserved for future breeding and research challenges.
The Tasmanian site at Cressy is one of four regeneration sites around Australia, with others located in Western Australia, South Australia and Queensland.
TIA's role in the regeneration program includes managing biosecurity requirements for the movement of germplasm, growing crops for seed production, and plant characterisation of specific traits.
The pasture regeneration program is a large-scale operation. There are more than 200 unique accessions, with an average of 100 plants spread over 10 hectares at the Cressy Research Station, in Northern Tasmania.
From these crops, the team aim to produce around 3 million seeds, to deposit into the Australian Pastures Genebank (APG). The samples at the APG are stored for long-term conservation and can also be used by plant breeders. A duplicate is also sent to the Global Seed Vault, in Svalbard Norway.
TIA’s Dr Rowan Smith explains the project in this video.