September 27, 2016
Time is running out for young agricultural researchers to share their ideas for a chance to receive a share of $240,000 in grants.
Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce said the 2017 Science and Innovation Awards for Young People in Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry encouraged 18 to 35-year-old innovators to undertake new research to benefit Australia’s agricultural industries.
“Innovation is a key driver of productivity growth for Australian agriculture, which is a key pillar of our national economy,” Mr Joyce said.
“Australian agriculture is in a good position to benefit from the great opportunities offered by global food and fibre demand growth, and especially the demand for safe, high quality agricultural and food products.
“But we need to continually develop and adopt innovative practices and products to capture those opportunities.
“Research and development is essential for this and we’re fortunate to have such an impressive pool of passionate young scientists and innovators whose ideas and research will shape the future of our agricultural industries.
“The Science and Innovation Award grants are designed to support early career researchers, scientists and other innovators in developing new approaches to industry issues and, in turn, making our agricultural industries more productive and more competitive.
“They also support the career pathways of the award recipients, and highlight the opportunities, innovation and technologies in modern agriculture.”
Mr Joyce pointed to the range of projects that were successful in the 2016 awards, including:
- Maximising the benefits of high speed broadband for the red meat industry through real-time livestock tracking and remote sensors
- New on-farm device for pathogen detection in aquaculture systems
- Soil organic carbon sequestration using melanised root-associated fungi
- Keeping salt out of wine, a novel genetic approach
- Smart investment in detection dogs for post-border biosecurity
- Mapping frost at the individual farm level for the Western Australian wheatbelt
- Development of fungal biocontrol agents to manage root-knot nematode in ginger
- Investigating the potential of using drone technology to improve on-farm efficiency and management during lambing
- Investigations into the prevalence of Mycoplasma bovis in Australian dairy cattle.
“These projects were selected because they each make great improvements to the efficiency and profitability of their respective industries, which is why the government is pleased to back the awards each year,” Mr Joyce said.
Eleven industry award categories are available in the 2017 round, with each winner to receive a grant of up to $22,000 (including GST).
One recipient of an industry category award will also receive the Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources Award, with additional project funding.
More than 210 young researchers have shared in more than $3.2 million in grant funding for their projects since the Science and Innovation Awards began in 2001,
Applications close on Friday, October 14.
The recipients of the awards will be publicly presented as part of the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES) Outlook 2017 conference in Canberra.
For more information about the awards, visit the Agriculture Department website
