HARVESTING, PROCESSING, AND MARKETING AUSTRALIAN NATIVE GRASS SEEDS

A number of useful Australian native grasses have been identified for various situations: for turf, amenity, and ornamental purposes; for re vegetation of mine spoil, roadsides, and degraded land; and as forages . Their commercialisation depends on developing appropriate seed-harve sting and processing technology, thereby ensuring that seed is produce d in a form that can be sown satisfactorily and gives reliable establi shment. While conventional header harvesters can be used with some spe cies (e.g., Astrebla lappacea), beater and (especially) brush harveste rs have been more successful with many others, particularly grasses wi th light, difficult-to-handle, chaffy seeds. After harvest, chaffy see ds can be processed to make their subsequent handling and sowing easie r. Choice of processing method depends on the structural complexity of the dispersal units and on the particular chaffy appendages involved. Awns and sterile spikelets are comparatively easy to remove, with sur face hairs and bristles the most difficult. Market acceptance, however , ultimately depends on the value that consumers place on convenience and ease of handling versus any costs added through processing.