Professor Powles, director of the WA Herbicide Resistance Initiative (WAHRI), which is funded by the GRDC and Australian Research Council (ARC), received the award at last week's the GRDC-supported Agribusiness Crop Updates in Perth.

Making the presentation, GRDC western panel deputy chairman Richard Oliver said Professor Powles’ work in the area of herbicide resistance has been invaluable to grain growers over many years.

“It’s due to the work done at WAHRI, led by Steve, that WA farming systems have been led back from the brink of a disaster they were facing due to widespread herbicide resistant weeds overwhelming WA farming systems,” Professor Oliver said.

“The Seed of Light award is presented each year to someone who makes a significant contribution to communicating the outcomes of research. Over the years, Steve has made sure knowledge is available and can be applied in a practical manner so farmers are able to live with herbicide resistant weeds.

“Herbicide resistance is no longer the threat to business that it was when WAHRI was established.”

Professor Oliver said Professor Powles is an international authority on all aspects of herbicide resistance, from a basic biochemical understanding of how plants evolve resistance through to practical on-farm management.

“Steve is equally interested in the generation of new knowledge through to application in cropping systems,” Professor Oliver said.

“He is one of the world’s most highly cited plant scientists.”

Current research undertaken by WAHRI includes a GRDC project encompassing the evolutionary dynamics of herbicide resistance; the impact of cutting herbicide rates; gene flow in Lolium rigidum and Roundup Ready canola; biochemical and molecular basis of herbicide resistance; and resistance management.

Previous GRDC western region Seed of Light winners include Bill Bowman, Peter Newman, Peter Mangano, Bill Crabtree, Cameron Weeks, Peter Nelson, Ros Jettner, Vanessa Stewart, Rob Loughman and Fran Hoyle.