Sustaining Australia's sheep industry under climate change: modelling Australia's sheep flock response to climatic and economic constraints. This project aims to provide a quantitative assessment of the impact of climate change and economic conditions on the Australian sheep industry. This will be achieved by constructing a robust dynamic model of the Australian sheep flock capable of integrating biophysical and economic constraints across regional and national scales. Using historical and proje ....Sustaining Australia's sheep industry under climate change: modelling Australia's sheep flock response to climatic and economic constraints. This project aims to provide a quantitative assessment of the impact of climate change and economic conditions on the Australian sheep industry. This will be achieved by constructing a robust dynamic model of the Australian sheep flock capable of integrating biophysical and economic constraints across regional and national scales. Using historical and projected biophysical and economic inputs it will enhance the capacity of the Australian sheep industry for strategic planning in the face of projected climate change. This capacity is being actively sought by the peak sheep industry bodies in conjunction with our industry partner the Bureau of Rural Sciences.Read moreRead less
Surveillance and sampling to maintain absence of pests and diseases. This project aims to develop empirically validated statistical and mathematical methods for industry and government to deliver more efficient biosecurity surveillance programs. The project endeavours to enhance biosecurity at the border and within Australia, while minimising the costs and burden of testing. Expected project outcomes include effective surveillance and sampling for high-priority threats, accessible software for d ....Surveillance and sampling to maintain absence of pests and diseases. This project aims to develop empirically validated statistical and mathematical methods for industry and government to deliver more efficient biosecurity surveillance programs. The project endeavours to enhance biosecurity at the border and within Australia, while minimising the costs and burden of testing. Expected project outcomes include effective surveillance and sampling for high-priority threats, accessible software for decision-makers, and generalisable approaches to address rapidly increasing biosecurity risks. Significant benefits include maintaining absence of key pathogens and pests in Australia.Read moreRead less
CropVision: A next-generation system for predicting crop production. Accurate and timely production estimates are essential to Australia’s grain producers and industry to better deal with down side risk caused by climate extremes and market volatilities. However, current systems for predicting crop production are inaccurate and unreliable. This project aims to develop a next generation system for advance and high accuracy predictions for yield, crop type and area at field scale. This will be don ....CropVision: A next-generation system for predicting crop production. Accurate and timely production estimates are essential to Australia’s grain producers and industry to better deal with down side risk caused by climate extremes and market volatilities. However, current systems for predicting crop production are inaccurate and unreliable. This project aims to develop a next generation system for advance and high accuracy predictions for yield, crop type and area at field scale. This will be done by integrating the state of the art global climate models (GCM), biophysical crop modelling, and high-resolution earth observation technologies. This project will deliver a next generation crop prediction system to predict crop production at field scale for improved decision-making and enhancing resilience.Read moreRead less
Ancestral enzyme engineering for designer fat products. Consumers are increasingly turning to plant-based alternatives of meat and dairy products due to concerns about health, animal welfare and sustainability. Taste, nutritional profile, protein content and limited variety are barriers that continue to challenge food manufacturers. This project aims to develop a process for the fermentation of specialty food oils and fats from agriculture production waste, that can deliver the flavour and nutri ....Ancestral enzyme engineering for designer fat products. Consumers are increasingly turning to plant-based alternatives of meat and dairy products due to concerns about health, animal welfare and sustainability. Taste, nutritional profile, protein content and limited variety are barriers that continue to challenge food manufacturers. This project aims to develop a process for the fermentation of specialty food oils and fats from agriculture production waste, that can deliver the flavour and nutritional benefits of meat and dairy products when added to plant-based alternatives. The outcomes should valorise existing agriculture and food waste, converting waste materials into valuable food ingredients.Read moreRead less
Development of environmentally-friendly bioinsecticides for control of Australian crop pests. Insect pests cause over $3 billion of damage each year to Australian crops. Current insecticides are becoming less effective, and they often have adverse environmental impacts. This project aims to develop a new generation of environmentally-friendly insecticides that can be used to control insect pests on farms and around the home and garden.
Getting to the meat of the matter: social and economic issues in animal welfare in Australia's livestock industries. Animal welfare in Australia's livestock industries is an issue of increasing concern to both Australian consumers and meat and livestock producers. This project will provide an understanding of both the social and economic impacts of consumer views on animal welfare and help to foster more productive dialogue between consumers and producers.
Improving heat and drought tolerance in canola through genomic selection in Brassica rapa. This project aims to improve heat and drought tolerance in canola by identifying stress tolerance genes in the genetically diverse turnip family. An effective large-scale screening test for heat and drought tolerance will be developed and a number of heat- and drought-tolerant lines will be identified for genomic breeding and selection.
Characterisation of a major quantitative trait locus on wheat chromosome 3BL responsible for Fusarium crown rot resistance. Fusarium crown rot (FCR) is a serious wheat disease in Australia and worldwide. Our team has identified a major chromosome region controlling this disease. This project is proposing to develop DNA markers for marker assisted breeding, to understand the genetic mechanism of resistance and to identify genes responsible for resistance to the disease.
Precision Pollination: Data-driven enhancements to boost crop yield. The project aims to transform industrial crop pollination from an intuitive domain to one where decisions are based on sound data and best-practice principles. It proposes to achieve this modernisation of global pollination practice by developing novel technologies to operate a three-stage loop: honeybee pollination monitoring, simulation-based forecasting, and management. This is intended to ensure that the capability of honey ....Precision Pollination: Data-driven enhancements to boost crop yield. The project aims to transform industrial crop pollination from an intuitive domain to one where decisions are based on sound data and best-practice principles. It proposes to achieve this modernisation of global pollination practice by developing novel technologies to operate a three-stage loop: honeybee pollination monitoring, simulation-based forecasting, and management. This is intended to ensure that the capability of honeybees to provide essential ecosystem services is informed by transferable, standardised data acquisition and management techniques that maintain bee health and maximise pollination. The anticipated outcomes are higher fruit yields and quality, and a beneficial step-change in industry productivity and profitability.Read moreRead less
Towards improving the yield of Canola and other Brassicas during drought. One of the major problems faced by world agriculture is drought; this project should improve the yield of Canola during moderate to severe droughts. Significantly, this project includes both "traditional" non-genetically modified (GM) strategies and GM strategies to maximise the market for our drought-tolerant canola both in Australia and overseas.