This project will provide industry with novel solutions to control key root pathogens, increase farm profitability of horticulture crops and significantly advance economic and technological growth of Australian agribusiness industries. It will develop and apply novel bio-based technologies that simultaneously harness crop-optimised microbiomes and plant immune systems and biochemical products to transform how protected and field cropping systems tackle the key biotic constraint of root diseases.

The aim of this PhD project is to identify novel fertigation, nutrient delivery, and management approaches of growing vegetables to increase both yield and quality of produce in both Australia and Qatar.

This project supports Perfection Fresh in finding solutions that address pathogen-related broccolini wastage and decreased yield as well as the limited growing season of a highly sought-after, high-value crop. The project aims to test different applications’ capacity to reduce infection rates and maintain plant nutrient flow into the development of inflorescences and the main broccolini product.

The focus of this project is on describing the crop, technology and climate interactions that result from implementing various protected cropping strategies and greenhouse designs in the warm Australian climate. This entails evaluating the long-term performance of several cooling technologies and greenhouses, including characterising the energy-saving potential of smart glass (glass coated with photoselective thin film) for greenhouses via crop trials.

The project will create and demonstrate navigation algorithms that enable the robotic platform to perform crop row enter and exit behaviours.

The CRC is collaborating in this Hort Innovation project to provide essential baseline data to support logistical decisions around industry growth, transport, labour, market access, food security, drought resilience, water infrastructure, natural disaster and biosecurity response. This data will also be an essential base layer for many federally supported initiatives including biosecurity, soils, climate resilience and carbon.

Modifying the spectral performance of glasshouses by the use of ‘smart glass’ or retrofitted light-altering films can deliver significant increases in both production and energy and water efficiency. This project explores the efficacy of two such light-altering glasshouse films.

The project is advancing the understanding of self-pollination mechanisms and drive new solutions, as such, is considered likely to generate original findings and a new direction for research.

The project is addressing specific design challenges identified by Greenbio as it seeks to develop and commercialise proprietary solutions for mobile modular vertical hydroponic growing systems.

This project seeks to characterise the behaviour of probiotic organisms in the root zone of hydroponic tomato plants, and to develop a practical method for routine monitoring of the root microbiome.