New barley variety chosen as the one

The variety name is a nod to one of sci-fi's most loved characters, Neo, from The Matrix movie, who was chosen as 'the one' to save humanity.

According to barley plant breeder David Moody, he was pretty certain that he had found 'the one' early on in the plant breeding process.

What makes Neo so special is it is promised to increase yields by 10 per cent, generating a potential $110 million per annum boost to the value of the national barley industry.

That is almost unheard of in plant breeding and had Mr Moody jumping from excitement.

He was ecstatic at the launch, describing Neo as "game changing" for the barley industry.

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Along with its large yield jump, Neo has a great disease resistance profile and IMI tolerance, while possessing a more weed competitive plant type to other IMI-tolerant varieties, such as Spartacus CL and Maximus CL.

"It just ticks box, box, box," Mr Moody said.

"Neo is a once-in-a-lifetime find in a breeding program that evaluates tens of thousands of lines annually.

"As a result, we have fast-tracked the breeding process to get this exceptional variety out to growers as quickly as possible."

The variety only took five years from first tests to release, which Mr Moody said was testament to it standing out among the rest.

He said grower demand for this variety has been unprecedented and InterGrain was receiving orders for hundreds of tonnes of seed before it had announced it was releasing the variety

"It's a variety that is so exceptional that, with due respect to our marketing team, they don't have to do too much work," Mr Moody said.

The variety, which was recently submitted for malting barley accreditation, is well-suited to medium to high rainfall environments with strong pest and disease resistance and superior grain quality characteristics.

The naturally-bred variety is a product of the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development's Cereal Doubled Haploid Program, to accelerate the development of breeding lines tailored to Australian conditions.

Neo is InterGrain's 12th barley variety to be released, complementing a suite of cereal offerings, including a range of Australian hard and noodle wheat lines and oats.

WA Agriculture and Food Minister Jackie Jarvis was excited to reveal the name of the new variety at Little Creatures Brewery, Fremantle, saying it was an exciting time for agriculture.

"Neo barley reflects its name - a modern variety, ahead of its time and bred using the latest plant breeding technology to generate a leap in production and malting performance," Ms Jarvis said.

"This new variety will support Australia's reputation as a global leader in supplying high quality barley to discerning domestic and export markets.

"Our government is pleased to be partnering with InterGrain and AEGIC (Australian Export Grains Innovation Centre) to back research and development that supports WA growers and the broader industry to remain internationally competitive now and into the future."