Rosy Raman is a Senior Research Scientist, based in Wagga Wagga. Rosy is part of the team of researchers involved in the joint GRDC/NSW DPI capacity building positions.

Rosy’s interest in agriculture started at an early age, being brought up in a family that was involved in agriculture in the research and development sector. But her true interest in research developed after graduation, when she got the opportunity to study for a master’s degree in wheat rust genetics.  This was followed by a PhD in plant breeding, majoring in rice biotechnology, at Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, India.

What did you do before the capacity building position came up?

Before becoming a recipient of a GRDC/NSW DPI capacity building project, Rosy had been working for DPI since 2000 on a number of crop improvements projects. These have included work into molecular markers for barley and canola breeding, studies into wheat extensibility genes and molecular control of flowering time in canola. Rosy was also part of the successful National Brassica Germplasm Improvement project (NBGIP).

“The focus of my research has been on investigating the mechanisms of resistance/tolerance to biotic and abiotic stresses in cereal and oilseed crops and developing genetic markers linked with these traits.This has enabled rapid identification and incorporation of tolerant genes into cultivars to increase productivity of Australian grain growers”.

What research are you doing under the project?

Rosy’s work under the capacity building position has focused on chickpeas. She has been developing genetic tools for Ascochyta blight, with this disease being the greatest threat to the Australian chickpea industry.

Rosy’s work within the GAPP project, a joint project between NSW DPI and GRDC, encompasses chilling tolerance in chickpeas The abiotic stress of chilling temperatures at flowering time is a major limitation to chickpeas being grown further south and east in NSW.

Rosy, together with CSIRO, is investigating reproductive chilling tolerance in wild Cicer (chickpea) material, to explore if there is any genetic variation that may be introduced into domesticated varieties to help overcome this stress. This is part of a new national project ‘Leveraging International Germplasm to Deliver Improved Chickpea Chilling Tolerance for Australian Growers’, (2021-2025).

Rosy likes working for the DPI as she feels it is a good working environment, with people being both friendly and inclusive. The position has also given her the opportunity to work on and in many diverse research projects.

What skills have you developed because of the project?

Rosy has been able to expand her knowledge on pulse crops, especially in chickpea agronomy and physiology as the result of being part of this project. It has given her the opportunity to participate and present at field days and GRDC updates, hence improving her communication skills. The project has allowed her to liaise with both agronomists and growers for their insights into the issues and challenges they face in pulse production in NSW.

The project has enabled Rosy to foster collaborations with researchers across NSW, Victoria, South Australia (UAQ/SARDI) and nationally with CSIRO.

What are the main things you have learnt?

“I gained valuable insights on how chickpea plants respond to the ascochyta fungus at the biochemical level. The focus of this research is to identify the specific chemical(s) which are either associated with resistance or susceptibility. This research will provide an additional tool for breeders for developing new chickpea varieties with improved ascochyta resistance for Australian growers”.  

How will your research help farmers in the field and bring about practice change on a farm level?

Rosy’s collaborative research is focusing on biotic and abiotic stress tolerances in chickpea and the creation of associated genetic tools. These will allow breeding programs to fast-track the development of improved cultivars and enable chickpea breeding programs to develop improved varieties for growers in a shorter time frame.

Rosy’s work will provide growers with the option to grow high value pulse crop varieties with less yield loss from cold temperature, coupled with improved Ascochyta blight resistance.

“We anticipate that this work will result in varieties with improved adaptation to chilling temperatures could expand national chickpea production to areas that were previously considered unsuitable for chickpea production due to cool temperatures”.

What new projects or holes in current research have you identified?

Rosy explains that developing Ascochyta resistant varieties is challenging for breeders as the fungus that attacks chickpea plants keeps evolving and overcoming the resistance in the current varieties.

“An understanding of chickpea -ascochyta interaction at a biochemical level, may enable us to develop complementary selection tools to fast-track the development of chickpea varieties with better resistance for growers”.

One of the biggest surprises to Rosy in her research has been the chickpea-ascochyta interaction and how the fungus manipulates its host for its own advantage, rendering the chickpea plant susceptible.

When Rosy’s not looking down a microscope or frolicking in the paddock she enjoys spending time with her husband, daughter and son, listening to music, gardening and watching movies.