A new agricultural science collaboration will reinvigorate Western Australia’s agricultural research and development capabilities.
The newly-launched WA Agricultural Research Collaboration (the Collaboration) brings together leading scientists from the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD), Australia’s national science agency CSIRO, Curtin University, Edith Cowan University, Murdoch University and The University of Western Australia.
The Collaboration will build on current research efforts to harness and apply cutting edge science and expertise to Western Australia’s unique challenges and opportunities and contribute to national and international agricultural priorities.
It will also support WA primary producers to adopt new agricultural technologies across grains, livestock and irrigated agriculture.
Backed by Western Australian Government investment of $25 million over three years, the Collaboration will attract additional funding from participants and other funders, including industry-based research and development corporations.
The Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC) has announced an initial commitment of $10 million over three years towards the initiative.
Six programs have been identified, with the first three focused on boosting agricultural productivity and profitability in the face of a changing climate.
The initial three programs are:
- Northern Agriculture: Increasing the gross value of production through intensification of agriculture by 2030, focusing on sustainable growth of irrigated agriculture and the northern beef industry.
- Grains Transformation: Transforming the WA grains industry to achieve an average 25 million tonne crop per annum by 2035, with 50% increase in fertiliser, crop protection and fuel input use efficiency.
- Climate Resilience: Addressing the impacts of climate change through technologies that can deliver future landscapes that maintain agricultural productivity while reducing agricultural carbon emissions by 50% by 2035.
Current efforts are directed at developing joint research programs with researchers, industry, growers and external funding bodies for these.
The three further programs will act as cross-cutting initiatives to support growth and long-term sustainability of WA’s agricultural industry, and will encompass agricultural technologies, Aboriginal participation and capacity building for growers.
The Collaboration will support opportunities for the next generation of leading scientists to develop larger programs of work with postgraduate scholarships supported by the participants and industry.
The WA Agricultural Research Collaboration participants will be working together over the next six to 12 months to finalise the programs of work, governance structure, industry engagement and employment of leadership and operational staff.
The Collaboration is expected to be fully operational in early 2023.
Picture caption: Founding partners of the new WA Agricultural Research Collaboration came together to celebrate the Collaboration’s launch, including representatives from the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD), CSIRO, Curtin University, Edith Cowan University, Murdoch University, and The University of Western Australia.