Greater sustainability and improved nutrition through smart technology and supply chain logistics
Hilmer Building E10, UNSW Sydney
Gate 2, High Street, Kensington, NSW 2033
The Future Food Systems Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) was created to power innovation and growth in the agrifood sector by accelerating adoption of STEM technologies through the value chain. It commenced operations in 2019 for an initial term of 10 years with a budget from the Commonwealth of Australia and participants totaling $187 million.
Queensland University of Technology’s Dr Ozgur Dedehayir researches the strategic implications of technological evolution, disruptive innovations and their impacts on society. Most recently, he’s been focused on food innovation ecosystems – a topic that resonates with this keen home chef.
The final report of the ‘Coffs food innovation ecosystem’ project proposes four pathways to help the region’s agrifood firms transition to a new state of production marked by greater output and higher-value products.
Protected cropping experts at Western Sydney University are embarking on a CRC project with new partner Qatar University to deliver novel fertigation solutions that optimise indoor crops.
In a project starting mid-February 2022, UNSW scientists will work with Sanitarium to develop protocols for optimising the firm’s Weet-Bix grain-drying process.
Charles Darwin University’s Dr Sean Bellairs is a specialist in site revegetation and in breeding and establishing plants indigenous to Australia’s north. He’s also the research lead on the CRC’s four-year, multi-partner ‘Native rice commercialisation’ project.
New South Wales’ peak agricultural association encourages members and non-members to contribute their views to a CRC project that aims to boost farmers’ contributions to state coffers – and their own hip pockets.
A just-commenced CRC project involving Murdoch University’s ANPC, WA DPIRD, global scientific equipment firm Bruker and SMEs across WA will develop unique chemical fingerprints to validate health claims, expanding markets for premium WA products.
Involving SME grower P’Petual and QUT robotics experts, this CRC project aims to automate not just pollination, but all sorts of indoor-grown crop-tending tasks.
For University of New England’s Professor Derek Baker, better agribusiness means everything from improving regional infrastructure to reducing waste and finding more resilient, responsive paths to market.