Approved-seed plots provide cane growers with disease-free seed of varieties that are true-to-type. Disease-free seed (stalks or billets used for planting) is a key control measure for systemic diseases of sugarcane, including ratoon stunting disease (RSD), leaf scald, smut, chlorotic streak and mosaic.

SRA coordinates the provision of a nucleus of approved seed in each mill area in cooperation with the distribution agents of SRA varieties. In most areas, the distribution agents are local productivity services.

SRA provides the distribution agents with a disease-free supply of new varieties. These varieties have been DNA fingerprinted to ensure correct identification and that they are true-to-type.

The Procedures for the establishment and operation of approved seed plots provides a trusted method for production of approved seed. It is imperative these protocols are consistently applied to ensure farmers plant new crops with disease-free planting material, one of the most important control measures for systemic diseases.

Recent changes to the Queensland and New South Wales Biosecurity legislation outline the sugarcane industry’s responsibilities for biosecurity, with a general biosecurity obligation implemented for Queensland and a similar, general biosecurity duty, for New South Wales.

For both states this means that everyone must take all reasonable steps to ensure they prevent, minimise or eliminate biosecurity risks and report unusual events that relate to biosecurity.

An important outcome for the sugar industry was the formation of the Sugarcane Industry Biosecurity Committee (SIBC) who are a technical group of sugar industry, plant health and biosecurity experts who oversee the industry biosecurity issues. A second outcome was the transition of the regional bodies responsible for review and release of new sugarcane varieties from “Variety Approval Committees (VAC)” to “Regional Variety Approval Committees (RVC)” and the “Approved Variety List” now known as the “Recommended Variety List”.

There are five RVCs in Queensland and one in NSW, each responsible for managing new variety release and maintaining recommended variety lists within each sugarcane biosecurity zone (SBZ).

Each RVC has formed and agreed on the composition and structure of their committee and determined acceptable voting requirements for progression of clones through the breeding program, for new variety release and to oversee appropriate disease thresholds for their region.

• Northern RVC (SBZ1 Coen to Townsville)
• Herbert RVC (SBZ1 Coen to Townsville)
• Burdekin RVC (SBZ2 Townsville to Abbot Point)
• Central RVC (SBZ3 Abbot Point to Rockhampton)
• Southern RVC (SBZ4 Abbot Pt to Rockhampton & SBZ5 Victoria Pt To NSW/Qld border)
• NSW RVC

Northern RVC

The Northern RVC membership is drawn from grower, miller and productivity services groups from the Mossman, Mulgrave, South Johnstone, Tully and Tablelands regions.

Northern RVC Key Contacts

Chairman: Greg Shannon, Cane Productivity and Development Manager, Tully Sugar Limited Email: gshannon@tsl.com.au Ph: 0400 586 968

Secretary: Tracy Hay, SRA Adoption Officer Varieties.

Email: thay@sugarresesearch.com.au   Ph: 07 4056 4527

Committee Processes

Quorum Requirements: No voting member quorum required for voting

Proxy nomination process: No proxy nomination process

Membership review: No process identified

Variety Decisions

New Variety Release requires a Majority vote by majority present within the room, no quorum of voting members/proxies required.

Progression through breeding program to MaxProp or Accelerate requires a Majority vote by majority present within the room, no quorum of voting members/proxies required.

Regional Disease Threshold levels*

*Maintained by the Sugar Industry Biosecurity Committee (SIBC)

Application to SIBC for a disease threshold change requires a formal voting structure

Current Northern RVC recommended varieties:

To view all the recommended varieties for your region follow the hyperlink to SRA’s Variety Selection tool QCANESelect and select your region from the drop down menu

RVC meeting key actions

Herbert RVC

The Herbert RVC membership is drawn from grower and miller groups from the Herbert region.

Herbert RVC Key Contacts

Chairman: Lawrence Di Bella, Manager, HCPSL (Non-voting member)

Email: ldibella@hcpsl.com.au Ph: 07 4776 1808

Secretary: Samantha Selick, HCPSL Variety Development Manager (Non-voting member)

Email: ssellick@hcpsl.com.au Ph: 0417 622 129

Herbert Regional Variety Committee Membership

Committee Processes

Committee Membership: consists of voting members, co-operators and invited growers/contractors.

Quorum Requirements: All voting members or nominated proxies will be required to carry a vote

Proxy nomination process: Secretary needs to be notified of the intention to send a proxy prior to the meeting

Membership review: No process identified

Variety Decisions

New Variety Release requires a unanimous vote by the group.

Progression through breeding program to MaxProp or Accelerate requires a Majority vote.

Regional Disease Threshold levels*

*Maintained by the Sugar Industry Biosecurity Committee (SIBC)

Current Herbert RVC recommended varieties

To view all the recommended varieties for your region follow the hyperlink to SRA’s Variety Selection tool QCANESelect and select your region from the drop down menu

Burdekin RVC

The Burdekin RVC membership is drawn from grower and miller groups from the Burdekin region.

Burdekin RVC Key Contacts

Chairman: Rob Milla, Manager, Burdekin Productivity Services (Non-voting member)

Email: rmilla@bps.net.au Ph: 07 4783 1101

Secretary: Tracy Hay, SRA Varieties Adoption Officer (Non-voting member)

Email: thay@sugarresearch.com.au   Ph: 07 4056 4527 

Burdekin Regional Variety Committee Membership

Committee Processes

Committee Membership: consists of voting members, co-operators and invited growers/contractors.

Quorum Requirements: In the event that no representative or proxy is in attendance, the vote is forfeited.

Proxy nomination process: Secretary needs to be notified of the intention to send a proxy prior to the meeting

Membership review: No process identified

Variety Decisions

New Variety Release requires a Unanimous vote by the group.

Progression through breeding program to MaxProp or Accelerate requires a Majority vote.

Consideration be given for a formal milling trial if unanimous decision cannot be reached.

Regional Disease Threshold levels*

*Maintained by the Sugar Industry Biosecurity Committee (SIBC)

Current Burdekin RVC recommended varieties:

To view all the recommended varieties for your region follow the hyperlink to SRA’s Variety Selection tool QCANESelect and select your region from the drop down menu.

Central RVC

The Central RVC membership is drawn from grower and miller groups from the Central region.

Central RVC Key Contacts

Chairman: Peter Sutherland, Manager, Proserpine SSPL (Non-voting member)

Email: peter.sutherland@sugarpros.com.au Ph: 07 4945 0513

Secretary: Tracy Hay, SRA Varieties Adoption Officer (Non-voting member)

Email: thay@sugarresearch.com.au Ph: 07 4056 4527

Central Regional Variety Committee Membership 

Committee Processes

Committee Membership: consists of voting members, co-operators and invited growers/contractors.

Quorum Requirements: All voting members or nominated proxies will be required to carry a vote

Proxy nomination process: Secretary needs to be notified of the intention to send a proxy prior to the meeting

Membership review: No process identified

Variety Decisions

New Variety Release requires a unanimous vote by the group.

Progression through breeding program to MaxProp or Accelerate requires a Majority vote.

Consideration be given for a formal milling trial if unanimous decision cannot be reached.

Regional Disease Threshold levels*

*Maintained by the Sugar Industry Biosecurity Committee (SIBC)

Current Central RVC recommended varieties:

To view all the recommended varieties for your region follow the hyperlink to SRA’s Variety Selection tool QCANESelect and select your region from the drop down menu

Southern RVC

The Southern RVC membership is drawn from grower and miller groups from the Southern region.

Southern RVC Key Contacts

Chairman: Allan Dingle (2018), Senior Vice Chairman Canegrowers Qld, Email: allan@strathmore1871.com.au Ph: 0427 006 956

Secretary: Tracy Hay, SRA Varieties Adoption Officer (Non-voting member)

Email: thay@sugarresearch.com.au   Ph: 07 4056 4527

Southern Regional Variety Committee Membership

Committee Processes

Committee Membership: consists of voting members, co-operators and invited growers/contractors.

Quorum Requirements: One voting representative from each district must attend to convene the meeting.

Proxy nomination process: Proxy form to be signed by the representative organisation/body to be emailed to the secretary prior to the meeting.

Membership review: No process identified

Variety Decisions

New Variety Release requires a Majority vote.

Progression through breeding program to MaxProp or Accelerate requires a Majority vote.

Regional Disease Threshold levels*

*Maintained by the Sugar Industry Biosecurity Committee (SIBC)

Current Southern RVC recommended varieties:

New South Wales RVC

The New South Wales RVC Membership is drawn from the New South Wales Agricultural Advisory Committee, Sunshine Sugar, Agricultural Services staff and SRA.

NSW RVC Key Contacts

Chairman: Richard Beattie, Agricultural Manager Sunshine Sugar,

Email: rbeattie@sunshinesugar.com.au Ph: (02) 6620 8257

Secretary: Tracy Hay, SRA Varieties Adoption Officer

Email: thay@sugarresearch.com.au   Ph: 07 4056 4527

Committee Processes

Committee Membership: NSW Agricultural Advisory Committee, Sunshine Sugar, Agricultural Services staff and Sugar Research Australia.

Quorum Requirements: None identified

Proxy nomination process: No process identified

Membership review: No process identified

Variety Decisions

New Variety Release requires committee consensus.

Progression through breeding program to MaxProp or Accelerate requires committee consensus.

Disease Thresholds form part of the NSW Sugarcane Industry Voluntary Variety Approval Code of Practice and can be reviewed by the RVC at regular intervals or as required by changes in the threats to the region.

Approved Varieties List The approved varieties list is reviewed and updated annually by the NSW Agricultural Advisor Committee.

Regional Disease Threshold levels

Current NSW RVC approved varieties

SRA manages the import and export of sugarcane germplasm for Australia through a variety exchange program. The program is designed to diversify the germplasm available to Variety Development Managers to support the continuous improvement of varieties released for the Australian industry.

To ensure the safe importation of germplasm, SRA has secured space at the Australian Government’s post-entry quarantine facility in Mickelham, Victoria. Here, imported varieties are grown and undergo rigorous pest and disease screening and inspections to detect and prevent any exotic diseases entering Australia. Once cleared of any pests or diseases, the varieties are released to the breeding program for testing and use as parents. Past studies have shown that about 40 percent of the varieties released by SRA incorporate one or more imported varieties in their lineage.

In addition to importing germplasm, SRA also exports varieties in exchange. These varieties are thoroughly tested for Australian pests and diseases to prevent the transmission of any pathogens to our international partners.
During 2022 and 2023, SRA imported a total of 35 varieties from Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, and Mauritius. We also have collaborative arrangements with Visacane (CIRAD, France) for the exchange of varieties with Reunion, Barbados, and other locations.

Our goal is to import varieties that have demonstrated strong performance in their countries of origin, possess desirable traits, or exhibit resistance to exotic pests and diseases. Variety exchanges typically occur once a year, with 5-10 varieties exchanged with partner organisations.

For further information or inquiries about the variety exchange program, please contact Dr. George Piperidis, Variety Development Manager Central, at gpiperidis@sugarresearch.com.au.