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
A soil ecological approach to increasing Australian crop productivity. The objective of this project is to use emerging genomics technologies to identify and characterize soil bacteria that allow the replacement of current agricultural fertilisers, which have significant environmental and economic disadvantages, with sustainable biological fertilisers. Soil bacteria can greatly enhance phosphate solubilization and hence availability for plant growth. Beneficial microbes will be identified from o ....A soil ecological approach to increasing Australian crop productivity. The objective of this project is to use emerging genomics technologies to identify and characterize soil bacteria that allow the replacement of current agricultural fertilisers, which have significant environmental and economic disadvantages, with sustainable biological fertilisers. Soil bacteria can greatly enhance phosphate solubilization and hence availability for plant growth. Beneficial microbes will be identified from our existing soil collection and their performance and persistence optimised. Concurrently, our industry partners will develop suitable microbial formulations for application. The outcomes of the project will be the use of biological fertilisers to enhance crop productivity in an environmentally sustainable manner.Read moreRead less
New crop on the block: The genetic control of hempseed nutritional quality. Hempseed, which is rich in polyunsaturated oils and high-quality protein, is emerging as a functional food crop across Australia. However, very little is known about the genetic control of oil and protein contents and composition, crucial characteristics for the optimization of hempseed productivity and quality for the Australian industry. A unique genetic resource of 120 diverse hemp accessions, many provided by our ind ....New crop on the block: The genetic control of hempseed nutritional quality. Hempseed, which is rich in polyunsaturated oils and high-quality protein, is emerging as a functional food crop across Australia. However, very little is known about the genetic control of oil and protein contents and composition, crucial characteristics for the optimization of hempseed productivity and quality for the Australian industry. A unique genetic resource of 120 diverse hemp accessions, many provided by our industry partner, will be used to define the genetics underpinning nutritional variation and associated genotype-by-environment interactions. This fundamental knowledge will lay the foundation for targeted breeding and best management practice, for the benefit of farmers, the hemp industry and health-conscious consumers.Read moreRead less
Cereal blueprints for a water-limited world. This project aims to demonstrate that key developmental genes in cereals can be manipulated to design plant architecture for specific resource-limited environments. Producing more food with less water is one of the greatest challenges facing humanity today. This project expects to increase understanding of how shoot and root systems can be uncoupled to enhance crop adaptation in water-limited environments using an accelerated genome editing approach. ....Cereal blueprints for a water-limited world. This project aims to demonstrate that key developmental genes in cereals can be manipulated to design plant architecture for specific resource-limited environments. Producing more food with less water is one of the greatest challenges facing humanity today. This project expects to increase understanding of how shoot and root systems can be uncoupled to enhance crop adaptation in water-limited environments using an accelerated genome editing approach. An expected outcome of the project is enhanced drought adaptation for cereals in a dry world. This should provide significant benefits to farmers and consumers in Australia and worldwide.Read moreRead less
Tightening the phosphorus cycle for grain legumes. Using unique core collections of chickpea, soybean and peanut with diverse genetic backgrounds, this project aims to unravel the mechanisms underlying high phosphorus-use efficiency (PUE) at morphological, physiological, biochemical and molecular levels in three major legume crops. Reduced levels of phosphorus and phytate in seeds will improve seed quality for humans and livestock and dramatically reduce phosphorus-fertiliser inputs. The identif ....Tightening the phosphorus cycle for grain legumes. Using unique core collections of chickpea, soybean and peanut with diverse genetic backgrounds, this project aims to unravel the mechanisms underlying high phosphorus-use efficiency (PUE) at morphological, physiological, biochemical and molecular levels in three major legume crops. Reduced levels of phosphorus and phytate in seeds will improve seed quality for humans and livestock and dramatically reduce phosphorus-fertiliser inputs. The identification of traits and genes associated with high PUE will allow transfer of key traits into commercial cultivars using molecular breeding approaches. Cultivars with improved PUE will enable reduced phosphate fertiliser input and loss of phosphate in runoff from agricultural systems.Read moreRead less
How do plant roots align nitrogen uptake to soil opportunities? Improved nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) in crop plants is required to achieve sustainable plant agriculture practices that maximise productivity while minimising nitrogen fertiliser-dependent pollution. Current high-input monoculture plant production systems suffer from poor NUE and can contribute to local and global nitrogen pollution outcomes. Improving how plants manage their nitrogen uptake will improve NUE and help support Aust ....How do plant roots align nitrogen uptake to soil opportunities? Improved nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) in crop plants is required to achieve sustainable plant agriculture practices that maximise productivity while minimising nitrogen fertiliser-dependent pollution. Current high-input monoculture plant production systems suffer from poor NUE and can contribute to local and global nitrogen pollution outcomes. Improving how plants manage their nitrogen uptake will improve NUE and help support Australian plant agriculture. This project will investigate novel technologies that re-engineer nitrate transport activity. The project will also investigate the biochemical and molecular links between nitrogen uptake on root development required for improved plant growth.Read moreRead less
Turning sand into sheep feed - Lebeckia ambigua an agricultural perennial! This project aims to develop nitrogen-fixing legumes adapted to the changing climate. Nitrogen fixation from legumes is worth $3 billion to the Australian agricultural economy, but changing rainfall patterns threaten much of this. One solution is to transition pasture growth to a reliance on perennial plants, which are less affected by unseasonal rain. Lebeckia ambigua is an outstanding perennial legume to begin this chan ....Turning sand into sheep feed - Lebeckia ambigua an agricultural perennial! This project aims to develop nitrogen-fixing legumes adapted to the changing climate. Nitrogen fixation from legumes is worth $3 billion to the Australian agricultural economy, but changing rainfall patterns threaten much of this. One solution is to transition pasture growth to a reliance on perennial plants, which are less affected by unseasonal rain. Lebeckia ambigua is an outstanding perennial legume to begin this change, but its nitrogen fixation is compromised by nodulation failure caused by death of its symbiotic rhizobia. This project intends to improve the survival in acid and infertile soils of the unique rhizobial symbionts the research team has discovered for Lebeckia ambigua in South Africa.Read moreRead less
Harnessing horizontal gene transfer for sustainable nitrogen fixation. This project aims to investigate natural deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) transfer from nitrogen-fixing bacteria to indigenous bacteria in Australian soils. This project expects to significantly expand our understanding of the molecular and genetic factors contributing to the evolution of ineffective symbiotic bacteria in these soils. An expected outcome of this project is support development of genetically stable bacterial inocul ....Harnessing horizontal gene transfer for sustainable nitrogen fixation. This project aims to investigate natural deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) transfer from nitrogen-fixing bacteria to indigenous bacteria in Australian soils. This project expects to significantly expand our understanding of the molecular and genetic factors contributing to the evolution of ineffective symbiotic bacteria in these soils. An expected outcome of this project is support development of genetically stable bacterial inoculants for use in agriculture. Inoculation of legumes with nitrogen-fixing symbiotic bacteria is a cheap and environmentally-friendly alternative to chemical fertilisers and contributes $3-4 billion per annum to Australian economy.Read moreRead less
Industrial Transformation Training Centres - Grant ID: IC230100016
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$5,000,000.00
Summary
ARC Training Centre in Predictive Breeding for Agricultural Futures. This Centre aims to develop the advanced capacity needed to secure Australia’s food and fibre production and export value into the future. Leveraging immense industry support, the Centre expects to develop and integrate cutting-edge plant and animal breeding technologies and deliver world-class training that addresses critical demand for highly skilled industry leaders. Expected outcomes include a future-ready predictive breedi ....ARC Training Centre in Predictive Breeding for Agricultural Futures. This Centre aims to develop the advanced capacity needed to secure Australia’s food and fibre production and export value into the future. Leveraging immense industry support, the Centre expects to develop and integrate cutting-edge plant and animal breeding technologies and deliver world-class training that addresses critical demand for highly skilled industry leaders. Expected outcomes include a future-ready predictive breeding industry able to transform data into optimised decisions, and the human capacity to drive it. This should provide significant benefits to enhance the sustainability and profitability of all major Australian agriculture sectors, including livestock, grains, horticulture, cotton, wine, dairy, forestry and fisheries.Read moreRead less
Enhancing phosphorus use efficiency in macadamia for sustainable production. Macadamia nuts are an iconic native Australian product worth $287 million annually at the farm gate. Phosphorus fertiliser management currently threatens price premiums for sustainable production in high value European Union export markets, and ‘social license’ to farm in their densely populated coastal production areas. The project aims to exploit adaptive root and shoot traits for phosphorus efficiency found in Austra ....Enhancing phosphorus use efficiency in macadamia for sustainable production. Macadamia nuts are an iconic native Australian product worth $287 million annually at the farm gate. Phosphorus fertiliser management currently threatens price premiums for sustainable production in high value European Union export markets, and ‘social license’ to farm in their densely populated coastal production areas. The project aims to exploit adaptive root and shoot traits for phosphorus efficiency found in Australian native plants to optimise phosphorus fertiliser management and set the platform for breeding macadamia root stocks/varieties that require less phosphorus fertiliser. The outcome will be a macadamia industry that is able to maintain current market price premiums and maintain social license to farm in coastal Australia.Read moreRead less