Research for Agriculture - SHARING TODAY

Using next generation genetic testing to give growers a competitive boost

QUT has partnered with Hort Innovation under the Plant Biosecurity Research Initiative (PBRI) to advance the use of next-generation genetic sequencing technologies, giving Australia’s horticulture sector a competitive boost through faster access to new plant stock.

Jun 20, 2019

horticulture

Pacific Seeds donation a blessing for drought-stricken farmers

The donation of hundreds of bags of forage sorghum by Pacific Seed, and its distribution by a group of Rotary clubs, has helped drought-stricken farmers across New South Wales get through what was an especially tough season.

Jun 19, 2019

Research

Six new Aussie start-ups chosen to accelerate food innovation

Mars Food Australia has selected six innovative food start-ups to take part in the inaugural SEEDS OF CHANGE™ Accelerator program.

Aug 15, 2019

agribusiness, news, research

Science can now detect any gluten in any food

Scientists from Australia’s national science agency, CSIRO, can now detect gluten in any food and show which grain it comes from, making it easier for food companies to correctly label their products.

Aug 15, 2019

grains, health, research

Researchers dish up a digital avocado

It’s an ancient fruit, but the avocado has been brought into the new millennium with the publication of its draft genome, which may be the key to improvements in future crops.

Aug 15, 2019

crops, horticulture, research

Burp-free cow feed drives seaweed science

A puffy pink seaweed that can stop cows from burping out methane is being primed for mass farming by researchers from the University of the Sunshine Coast.

Aug 15, 2019

agriculture, climate change, environment, livestock, research

Trading meat for plants would save 29 million hectares of farmland in the US

By replacing meat with protein-conserving plant alternatives Americans could satisfy key nutritional requirements, while eliminating pastureland use and reducing 35-50% of the cropland currently needed for food production. These findings are reported in a modelling study in Scientific Reports, which suggests that use of nitrogen…

Aug 14, 2019

crops, research

Tetragonula stingless bees at thier nest entrance, in the side of a house

Sharing flowers may be deadly for native stingless bees

European honey bees could pass their diseases to native stingless bees simply by feeding on the same flowers, according to Australian research, which found five out of six wild stingless bee hives contained a parasite known to infect the gut of adult honey bees.

Aug 14, 2019

biosecurity, research

Genetics aid kiwifruit gender reveal parties

Since only female kiwifruit produce fruit, horticulturists have been looking for ways to find out whether their plant babies are boys or girls – but usually this relies on waiting for them to grow up.

Aug 14, 2019

horticulture, new zealand, research

Neil Doyle, Olsens Produce Warwick, David Peters, 'Hillcrest', Allora, and Bill Smith, Pacific Seeds.

Sentinel IG sorghum offers Allora growers weed control, highest yield

Allora farmers David and Tanya Peters planted new imidazolinone-tolerant grain sorghum for the first time last summer, and not only did it offer them the option of in-crop weed control, it was their highest yielding sorghum variety.

Aug 13, 2019

agriculture, farm management, grains, industry, pacific seeds, queensland

Five varieties of the spice of life in Northern Australia trial

A new project will test if Northern Australia has the potential to step into the global spice trade worth $12 billion annually.

Aug 12, 2019

agribusiness, funding, government

Mapping new agricultural export market opportunities for far north Queensland

Far North Queensland producers and exporters will reap the benefits of a significant new project to identify export opportunities for existing and potential high value agricultural products.

Aug 7, 2019

agribusiness, exports