Utilising novel Pongamia trees to decarbonise Australia’s beef value-chain. Progress towards a carbon neutral beef industry typically focusses on nutritional strategies, overlooking potential innovations in farming system configuration. This project aims to develop a framework for the integration of Pongamia into beef production systems, so that not only emissions reductions are maximised, but also to support carbon capture and farm system resilience. This project seeks to determine the impact o ....Utilising novel Pongamia trees to decarbonise Australia’s beef value-chain. Progress towards a carbon neutral beef industry typically focusses on nutritional strategies, overlooking potential innovations in farming system configuration. This project aims to develop a framework for the integration of Pongamia into beef production systems, so that not only emissions reductions are maximised, but also to support carbon capture and farm system resilience. This project seeks to determine the impact of Pongamia meal on cattle production efficiency, meat quality and methane emissions. Through quantification of carbon sequestration potential in tree plantations, whole-farm modelling will elucidate production scenarios capable of achieving the reductions needed for a carbon neutral Australian beef industry.Read moreRead less
How to make antibiotics in pig feed redundant, naturally. Antimicrobial resistance has become a major issue in human and veterinary medicine being partially caused by the use of in-feed antimicrobials in farm animals. This project aims to completely eliminate antimicrobials from piglet feeds. The key differential approach is based on helping the physiology of the animal rather than testing interventions against bacteria. The project will consist of developing a novel nutritional strategy of natu ....How to make antibiotics in pig feed redundant, naturally. Antimicrobial resistance has become a major issue in human and veterinary medicine being partially caused by the use of in-feed antimicrobials in farm animals. This project aims to completely eliminate antimicrobials from piglet feeds. The key differential approach is based on helping the physiology of the animal rather than testing interventions against bacteria. The project will consist of developing a novel nutritional strategy of naturally (through maternal conditioning) boosting the natural appetite and the capacity to digest in piglets early in life. The anticipated outcome is that the new peri-natal program will result in minimal bacterial proliferation and diarrhoea thus, negating the need for in-feed antimicrobials in piglets. Read moreRead less
Co-variant analysis and statistical modelling for improved crop yield. This project plans to develop mathematical tools that will help to identify cereal plant varieties with the highest yield. This is a critical responsibility of plant breeders and many Australian breeders acquire and store important information related to the issue. However, there are as yet no mathematical tools that are able to co-analyse the heterogeneous and high-dimensional data in order to understand how external and int ....Co-variant analysis and statistical modelling for improved crop yield. This project plans to develop mathematical tools that will help to identify cereal plant varieties with the highest yield. This is a critical responsibility of plant breeders and many Australian breeders acquire and store important information related to the issue. However, there are as yet no mathematical tools that are able to co-analyse the heterogeneous and high-dimensional data in order to understand how external and internal factors correlate with the major growth and development stages at the crop level. This project seeks to develop and implement mathematical and statistical tools to analyse genetic, agronomic and phenomic factors that affect plant performance, to deliver advanced yield prediction.Read moreRead less
Industrial Transformation Training Centres - Grant ID: IC190100033
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$3,852,568.00
Summary
ARC Training Centre for Transformation of Australia's Biosolids Resource. This Centre aims to bring together Australia’s leading biosolids researchers and key industry and government stakeholders to advance the management, transformation and reuse of biosolids in agriculture. The focus is: 1) capability and knowledge building, 2) research development, extension and training, 3) sustainable strategic partnerships. The expected outcomes of the Centre are to develop a group of new, highly-trained i ....ARC Training Centre for Transformation of Australia's Biosolids Resource. This Centre aims to bring together Australia’s leading biosolids researchers and key industry and government stakeholders to advance the management, transformation and reuse of biosolids in agriculture. The focus is: 1) capability and knowledge building, 2) research development, extension and training, 3) sustainable strategic partnerships. The expected outcomes of the Centre are to develop a group of new, highly-trained industry-ready researchers as well as advanced solutions in three major themes: improved technologies, enhanced products and sustainability. This will provide significant benefits in the economic value of new applications and market opportunities as well as deliver cost-savings – all in an environmentally friendly manner.Read moreRead less
Early Career Industry Fellowships - Grant ID: IE230100119
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$427,111.00
Summary
Towards Internet of Things Enabled Automated Mushroom Cultivation. This project aims to develop novel Internet-of-Things based learning techniques to inform the design and construction of a portable, automated system for the cultivation of mushrooms. The expected outcomes are a portable smart mushroom cultivation system that provides access to new agriculture techniques and local, fresh supplies in rural and remote areas; learning algorithms that detect mushroom ripeness and set the best environ ....Towards Internet of Things Enabled Automated Mushroom Cultivation. This project aims to develop novel Internet-of-Things based learning techniques to inform the design and construction of a portable, automated system for the cultivation of mushrooms. The expected outcomes are a portable smart mushroom cultivation system that provides access to new agriculture techniques and local, fresh supplies in rural and remote areas; learning algorithms that detect mushroom ripeness and set the best environmental parameters; and a dataset of mushroom cultivation parameters. These products, and associated training opportunities through a strong focus on public and industry engagement, will benefit the industry partners and horticultural producers to improve resource efficiency, waste reduction, and overall yield.Read moreRead less
Responding to the threat of climate change: identifying effective strategies for the wheat industry of south-east Australia. This project will first evaluate the probable impacts of climatic change and variability on wheat production in southern Australia and will then assess the effectiveness of actual and potential adaptive management strategies designed to mitigate these impacts. The expected outcomes will include quantified impacts of future climate change and variability on wheat productio ....Responding to the threat of climate change: identifying effective strategies for the wheat industry of south-east Australia. This project will first evaluate the probable impacts of climatic change and variability on wheat production in southern Australia and will then assess the effectiveness of actual and potential adaptive management strategies designed to mitigate these impacts. The expected outcomes will include quantified impacts of future climate change and variability on wheat production in southern Australia, identification of regions at greater risk in the future and least likely to be viable in the longer run, and identification of effective adaptive management strategies designed to cope with these risks.Read moreRead less
Social sustainability of emerging environmentally sensitive industries: a case study of oyster aquaculture on the South Australian Eyre Peninsula. The Eyre Peninsula oyster aquaculture industry has grown rapidly over the last 15 years and an assessment of the factors affecting its long-term sustainability is urgently required. The project will consider aquaculture in relation to social, natural and economic systems, extending the Capitals Framework of assessing rural sustainability developed by ....Social sustainability of emerging environmentally sensitive industries: a case study of oyster aquaculture on the South Australian Eyre Peninsula. The Eyre Peninsula oyster aquaculture industry has grown rapidly over the last 15 years and an assessment of the factors affecting its long-term sustainability is urgently required. The project will consider aquaculture in relation to social, natural and economic systems, extending the Capitals Framework of assessing rural sustainability developed by the Association of Social Science in Australia. The study combines quantitative and qualitative data in order to assess changes in the stocks of community capital as oyster aquaculture develops. A key aim of the research is to inform the development of policies and governance structures in Australian aquaculture management.Read moreRead less
Political economy of distortions to global agricultural markets. Farmers, agribusiness and governments in Australia and other food-exporting nations have put enormous efforts into seeking reductions in agricultural protectionism, particularly in the past two decades via the Cairns Group in GATT/WTO negotiations but also in bilateral and regional integration initiatives. Yet levels of protection have fallen little for agriculture relative to manufacturing in high-income countries, and in some new ....Political economy of distortions to global agricultural markets. Farmers, agribusiness and governments in Australia and other food-exporting nations have put enormous efforts into seeking reductions in agricultural protectionism, particularly in the past two decades via the Cairns Group in GATT/WTO negotiations but also in bilateral and regional integration initiatives. Yet levels of protection have fallen little for agriculture relative to manufacturing in high-income countries, and in some newly industrializing countries that indicator has been rising. Improving our understanding as to why that is the case will ensure Australia gets a better return from its investment in that area of commercial diplomacy.Read moreRead less
Developing biotechnology solutions for improving phosphate acquisition in plants using functional genomics in rice. Global supplies of the most currently used phosphate fertilisers are predicted to be exhausted in less than a century. These fertilisers are non-renewable resources based on phosphate rock deposits and their use are key drivers of both plant production costs and environmental damage in Australia and internationally. Using the power of genetic and functional genomics analyses in ric ....Developing biotechnology solutions for improving phosphate acquisition in plants using functional genomics in rice. Global supplies of the most currently used phosphate fertilisers are predicted to be exhausted in less than a century. These fertilisers are non-renewable resources based on phosphate rock deposits and their use are key drivers of both plant production costs and environmental damage in Australia and internationally. Using the power of genetic and functional genomics analyses in rice, this project will reveal key controllers of phosphate acquisition in plants. Hence, novel biotechnology based solutions can be implemented in a variety of cereal crops to aid reduced use of phosphate fertiliser in agriculture and unlock the large phosphate pool not used by plants in soil.Read moreRead less
Use of Distichlis spicata for sustainable forage production on saline land to manage dryland salinity. Sustainable and productive use of salt-affected lands is a priority for many farmers. This project aims to develop management strategies that optimise yield, water use and nutritive value of Distichlis spicata (a salt-tolerant grass) forage on salinised lands, and to understand how this forage species affects the salt cycle, water use and fertility improvement of saline soils.