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INNOVATION IN PRACTICE
Professors Jim Pratley and Michael Friend of Charles Sturt University contend that, as disparate segments of the agriculture industry face common issues such as climate change and water security, Australia needs to invest in solving cross-sectoral problems that hit at the sustainability and volatility of the industry, thinking beyond productivity. Cross-Pollinating Agricultural Research
highlights the need for new approaches, including greater industry investment in R&D and innovation to drive growth. The funding of R&D since the introduction of the PIRD Act of 1989 has been largely the province of the rural R&D Corporations, based on levies from produ- cers in the particular industry. While this has been a successful model in many respects, the commodity focus has limited cross-industry R&D and innova- tion, as well as "blue sky" approaches. The model has resulted in significant gains within commodities (increased production and efficiencies), but arguably has resulted in missed opportunities that could have arisen by not focusing on individual commodities. The research provider landscape has been shift- ing as public investment has slowed. Universities are increasing their research intensity in agriculture as state and Commonwealth public research agencies
Agricultural productivity in Australia has been under- pinned by research, development and innovation (Fig- ure 1). While early work focused on productivity gains, efforts now include the imperatives such as environ- mental sustainability, animal welfare, human health, market demands and traceability. In this piece, we will use examples from the grains industries, though there are parallels with other industries as well. There can be a 15 - 20-year lag time between the discovery and its comprehensive implementation in agriculture, meaning a reduction in investment in R&D and innovation results in long-term reduction in productivity. Figure 2 shows marked yearly increases in government investment in R&D between the '50s and '70s was accompanied by increased research intensity underpinning productivity gains. Since then public investment has been growing at a much slower rate and research intensity declining. This
Figure 1. The value of productivity growth to Australian agriculture (from Daly et al. 2015)
Aussie farmers deserve a stronger, safer, smarter ute for work and play - and it's now here (see p 37)
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