Media Release: $20 MILLION CENTRE TO BOOST AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH AND HELP THE ENVIRONMENT

FROM THE MINISTER FOR INNOVATION

DATE: Tuesday, September 23, 2003

$20 MILLION CENTRE TO BOOST AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH AND HELP THE ENVIRONMENT

Innovation Minister, John Brumby, today officially opened a new agricultural gene research centre that will explore ways to lower pesticide and herbicide use and produce plants resistant to drought, frost and salinity.

The $20 million Victorian Centre for Plant Functional Genomics was kick-started with a $4 million grant from the Bracks Government’s Science, Technology and Innovation program.

“The global R&D market in this area is presently worth over $US$30 billion and is growing substantially every year,” Mr Brumby said.

“Our commitment to this project is an investment in Victoria’s future by positioning our State as a world leader in developing new technologies.”

Centre researchers are already screening a range of native and exotic grasses that carry adaptive genes expressing tolerance to a range of environmental stresses, including:

· A salt-tolerant grass, Agrostis robusta, that was previously thought to be extinct;
· Weeping grasses, Microlaena stipoides, that are tolerant to aluminium levels in soil;
· Antarctic hair grass, Deschampsia antarctica, which can handle extreme cold; and
· Hypoallergenic ryegrasses that can reduce hay fever.

Mr Brumby said this and other work had the potential to significantly benefit the environment.

“Agricultural practice has the potential to become more sustainable if herbicide and fertiliser applications can be reduced, and pressure on the environment could be eased if water-use efficiency and tolerance to salinity could be enhanced in major crops,” he said.

“The Centre will investigate the means of achieving these important goals with its research supporting the future prosperity of the agricultural production and food processing sectors in Australia.

“This is extremely valuable work with the sectors already responsible for 11 per cent of Victoria’s Gross State Product and representing 33 per cent of Victoria’s exports. In 2001/02, our horticulture and grain exports alone were valued at $487 million and $1.37 billion, respectively.”

Mr Brumby said the Centre would build on other Bracks Government initiatives aimed at benefiting the State’s research and development and agricultural sector, including:

· Releasing AgBio21, as part of the Biotechnology Strategic Development Plan, which sets out the strategic initiatives
to be undertaken to develop Victoria’s biotechnology research base in the Agri-Food sector;
· Supporting the establishment of the ($1.01 million) Horsham Grains Technology Precinct to convert basic
technologies into new products for the grains industry;
· Providing $2.1 million for the Warrnambool-based Sustainable Aquaculture Systems facility for research into water re-use technologies; and
· Providing funding for the development of advanced food processing technologies at the Australian Starter Culture
Research Centre and the Innovative Foods Centre at Werribee.

The two core partners in the Victorian Centre for Plant Functional Genomics are the University of Melbourne and the Victorian Department of Primary Industries through the Plant Biotechnology Centre at La Trobe University.

“By combining the skills and expertise of these two world-class research institutions we are now able to offer a full suite of functional genomics services which is unmatched in Australia,” Mr Brumby said.