Transforming Australia’s Agriculture Requires Research

Article by: Hari Yellina (Orchard Tech)

The Australian Government is supporting efforts by the CSIRO – Australia’s national science agency – to help grow the agriculture sector and secure the long-term economic prosperity of regional communities. CSIRO has launched three new “missions” that will see more than $150 million invested in key research and development collaborations that will tackle Australia’s biggest agriculture and food challenges.

The three missions and their respective goals are, firstly, the Drought Resilience Mission, to reduce the impact of Australian droughts by 30 per cent by 2030. The Mission is vital to protect jobs and agricultural profitability, strengthen the economic resilience and water security of regional communities, and improve environmental outcomes. Second, Trusted Agrifood Exports, to increase the value of Australian food exports by $10 billion by 2030. The mission will improve access to high-value markets, verify the authenticity of Australian products through new methods of demonstrating food origin, and improve supply chain efficiency through automated export compliance.

Finally, Future Protein, to grow Australia’s protein industry and produce an additional $10 billion of new products by 2030. The mission, which is backed by Meat and Livestock Australia and GrainCorp among others, will support existing livestock and aquaculture industries to transform no or low-value waste streams into high-value food products. The Mission will also focus on developing new protein-based industries and products along the full value chain to enable grain growers to capitalize on emerging consumer trends. Minister for Agriculture and Northern Australia David Littleproud said the missions will help make Australian farmers and communities more resilient to droughts, increase the value of Australian food exports and help to secure the future of our regional communities.