– ABOUT

OzMedicago Initiative

Annual medics (Medicago spp.) are nitrogen-fixing legumes grown across nearly 25 million hectares of Australian pastureland, particularly in low- to medium-rainfall regions with neutral to alkaline soils. Key species such as M. truncatula, M. littoralis, and M. polymorpha play a central role in sustainable grazing systems by improving soil fertility, reducing dependence on synthetic fertilisers, and showing promise for lowering methane emissions from livestock.

Australia has a strong history of breeding annual medics, with more than 40 locally adapted varieties developed over the past 80 years to improve traits such as drought tolerance, early vigour, and persistence. Despite their importance, breeding investment has declined in recent decades due to shifting funding priorities, reduced public programs, and limited commercial incentives compared with major crops. This has created challenges in translating their environmental and productivity benefits into widespread adoption.

The Australian Pastures Genebank (APG), managed by SARDI, contains the world’s largest collection of Medicago species with over 8,000 accessions. Extensive historical phenotypic data are available, and there is growing recognition that the value of this collection can be enhanced by integrating genomic information. Building on the successful OzBarley Initiative, which created an open genotype-to-phenotype resource that accelerated barley breeding, OzMedicago aims to deliver a similar platform to support annual medic improvement and research.