From the CEO
This month, the CRC entered into a new regional development alliance with Namoi Unlimited, a consortium of five NSW councils in one of Australia’s most productive agricultural regions. The initiative has attracted significant local media coverage and community support, and is just one example of the national movement we are seeing towards value-chain innovation in regional Australia. On the project front, work has commenced at the Costa Group’s state-of-the-art glasshouse facility near Guyra on an initiative to help combat pathogens common in hydroponically grown crops. Also in this month’s eNews are introductions to QUT’s Professor Sagadevan (Saga) Mundree, an expert in plant-based protein and next-generation crops, and updates on activities of our partners across new products, vertical agriculture, automation solutions and clean technology.
David Eyre
CEO, Future Food Systems
Project News
Helping commercial hydroponic growers combat humidity-loving pathogens
Australia’s largest hydroponic tomato grower, Costa, has joined forces with scientists at University of New England and Western Sydney University to find new ways to control crop diseases. The three-year ‘Microbial rhizosphere diversity in glasshouse hydroponic crops’ project will explore the root rhizobiome of hydroponically grown tomatoes undercover for the first time, helping Costa – and potentially, hydroponic growers everywhere – combat crop pathogens common in humid glasshouse environs.
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InProfile
Meet Sagadevan Mundree: tropical pulses expert
QUT Professor Sagadevan Mundree is an expert in the fields of biochemistry and cell biology, agricultural and industrial biotechnology, and tropical crops – notably pulses. He also loves to hike.
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Education program
Three more PhD students joined the Future Food Systems Industrial PhD Scholarship Program this month, making a total of five doctoral candidates working across CRC projects to date.
PhD candidates Claire Daniel, Ripan Debnath and Parisa Zara are now attached to the
Western Sydney Mapping and Analytics project team, based at UNSW’s City Analytics Laboratory.
Partner news
This month, our participants have logged some serious achievements: a new pasture weedbot; novel fungi-based products; progress in global research-rankings; approval for Canberra’s first vertical farm; and a breakthrough in our understanding of the effects of COVID-19.
Fable Food Co makes more from fungi
CRC partner Fable Food Co has wowed chef Heston Blumenthal, pizza aficionados and vegan-leaning Woolworths customers with its shiitake-based alt-meat products. Now it wants to convert lager-lovers to fungi-based booze.
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DPI, UNE and QUT scientists net $2.9m for ‘Kelpie’ weedbot
The Federal Government has pledged $2.9 million to a multi-partner project under the new ‘Kelpie’ CRC-P that aims to automate the labour-intensive job of controlling weeds in pasture.
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RDA ACT helps get Canberra growing (vertically)
Regional Development Australia’s ACT division has helped lay the groundwork for the establishment of the capital’s first vertical farm, located in the new Ginninderry precinct west of Belconnen.
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ANPC scientists publish game-changing findings on COVID-19 effects
World-leading researchers at Murdoch University’s ANPC have found metabolic evidence of multi-organ dysfunction in blood-plasma samples from COVID-19-infected patients. Now they’re validating the results on much larger samples from UK patients and looking into long-term effects.
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UNSW aces latest global research rankings
In this year’s World Universities Rankings, UNSW climbed 26 places in global rankings and rated highest of all Australian universities for across-the-board research quality.
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Newsbytes
Full STEAM ahead: ABARES’ Science & Innovation Awards 2021
STEAM (that's science, technology, engineering, agriculture and maths) students and forward-thinking early-career researchers, put your innovation hats on: it’s that time of year again.
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Bolstering food security by farming wheat vertically
University of Florida research suggests wheat yields could be boosted exponentially if the grain was grown in vertical farms. The findings have game-changing implications for global food security.
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Revitalising Australia’s food manufacturing
In an increasingly uncertain world, food self-sufficiency could prove critical. But for an Aussie food manufacturing revival to succeed, we need to be smart about what we make as well as how, and where, we make it.
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Events
Sustainable Cities podcast series: Episode 1
On demand
Tune in to this informative podcast with Greater Sydney Commission’s Roderick Simpson and Roel Plant, Research Director of UTS’s Institute for Sustainable Futures – the first in a series on sustainable cities.
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FIAL: Fast N’ Furious Innovation Workshops
Sept–Oct
In this practical three-part intensive, you’ll identify opportunities, then work on an innovation challenge relevant to your business, guided by Design-led thinking and Lean Start-up principles.
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