Halophytes for high-saline agriculture: optimising performance and understanding physiology. The recent drought has shaved off up to 1 per cent of Australia's economic growth and resulted in losses of over $6 billion in crop and livestock production. At the same time, very large volumes of water with impaired chemical quality are generated by industry and municipal water treatment processes. In most cases, these cannot be used directly for crop irrigation and have to be disposed of at extreme co ....Halophytes for high-saline agriculture: optimising performance and understanding physiology. The recent drought has shaved off up to 1 per cent of Australia's economic growth and resulted in losses of over $6 billion in crop and livestock production. At the same time, very large volumes of water with impaired chemical quality are generated by industry and municipal water treatment processes. In most cases, these cannot be used directly for crop irrigation and have to be disposed of at extreme cost and waste. This project will utilise halophytes as 'alternative cash crops' to use the saline water produced by the coal seam gas operations in the Surat Basin area in Queensland. This will result in a saving of at least $48 million over the five years of operation.Read moreRead less
Special Research Initiatives - Grant ID: SR0354575
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$30,000.00
Summary
Earth and Ocean Informatics and Technology Network (EON-ITnet). Sustainable resource exploration and mining onshore, as well as marine planning, exploration, and defence depend on effective cross-disciplinary investigation, sharing of expertise and technologies for integration and computational analysis of multidimensional data spaces. EON-ITNET will cross-fertilise the use of artificial intelligence, advanced computing and smart information sharing for management, analysis, visualisation and me ....Earth and Ocean Informatics and Technology Network (EON-ITnet). Sustainable resource exploration and mining onshore, as well as marine planning, exploration, and defence depend on effective cross-disciplinary investigation, sharing of expertise and technologies for integration and computational analysis of multidimensional data spaces. EON-ITNET will cross-fertilise the use of artificial intelligence, advanced computing and smart information sharing for management, analysis, visualisation and metadata modelling between these traditionally separate research groups, with the outcome of improving research efficiency and lowering costs. EON-ITNET will form an alliance with the Caltech-based GeoFramework, which is advancing a novel object-oriented data analysis environment, binding community software for Earth visualisation and simulation to 4D data bases.Read moreRead less
Industrial Transformation Research Hubs - Grant ID: IH190100014
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$5,000,000.00
Summary
ARC Research Hub for Sustainable Onshore Lobster Aquaculture. The project aims to build knowledge to establish the world’s first sustainable onshore lobster aquaculture industry focused on commercial, sustainable and socially responsible lobster production from hatchery to market. The project will investigate novel systems engineering, specialised feed manufacture, determination and modification of seedstock quality, new frontiers in seedstock transport, all within an informed environmental and ....ARC Research Hub for Sustainable Onshore Lobster Aquaculture. The project aims to build knowledge to establish the world’s first sustainable onshore lobster aquaculture industry focused on commercial, sustainable and socially responsible lobster production from hatchery to market. The project will investigate novel systems engineering, specialised feed manufacture, determination and modification of seedstock quality, new frontiers in seedstock transport, all within an informed environmental and marketing framework. The project will provide alternate solutions for lobster culture in bio-secure and cost effective onshore systems. The outcomes are targeted at positioning Australia at the forefront of onshore lobster aquaculture, with opportunity for technology transfer to other aquaculture sectors.Read moreRead less
A Roadmap for Greening Existing Australian Housing. The project will minimise the impact of the Greenhouse Pollution Reduction Scheme and anticipated rises in water costs on the householders. It will assist the consumers and the building industry in evaluating the environmental and economic costs and benefits of specific retrofitting actions for building envelope and major fixed appliances (thermal insulation, glazing, air infiltration, hot water, heating/cooling, lighting, low water flow and wa ....A Roadmap for Greening Existing Australian Housing. The project will minimise the impact of the Greenhouse Pollution Reduction Scheme and anticipated rises in water costs on the householders. It will assist the consumers and the building industry in evaluating the environmental and economic costs and benefits of specific retrofitting actions for building envelope and major fixed appliances (thermal insulation, glazing, air infiltration, hot water, heating/cooling, lighting, low water flow and water reuse appliances, and solar photovoltaic systems). In addition to assisting a burgeoning renovation industry, the project will enable accurate assessment of the impacts of the Green Loans Program and guide future national and local energy and water reduction policies. Read moreRead less
Industrial Transformation Training Centres - Grant ID: IC190100033
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$3,852,568.00
Summary
ARC Training Centre for Transformation of Australia's Biosolids Resource. This Centre aims to bring together Australia’s leading biosolids researchers and key industry and government stakeholders to advance the management, transformation and reuse of biosolids in agriculture. The focus is: 1) capability and knowledge building, 2) research development, extension and training, 3) sustainable strategic partnerships. The expected outcomes of the Centre are to develop a group of new, highly-trained i ....ARC Training Centre for Transformation of Australia's Biosolids Resource. This Centre aims to bring together Australia’s leading biosolids researchers and key industry and government stakeholders to advance the management, transformation and reuse of biosolids in agriculture. The focus is: 1) capability and knowledge building, 2) research development, extension and training, 3) sustainable strategic partnerships. The expected outcomes of the Centre are to develop a group of new, highly-trained industry-ready researchers as well as advanced solutions in three major themes: improved technologies, enhanced products and sustainability. This will provide significant benefits in the economic value of new applications and market opportunities as well as deliver cost-savings – all in an environmentally friendly manner.Read moreRead less
Taking advantage of rising CO2 to maximise ecosystem productivity. The rising atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide provides an opportunity to increase ecosystem productivity, especially in agricultural systems. To what extent is highly uncertain, particularly when combined with changing temperature and precipitation. It has recently been demonstrated that seasonal water supply is the strongest controller of the productivity response to high carbon dioxide concentrations of grasslands. Th ....Taking advantage of rising CO2 to maximise ecosystem productivity. The rising atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide provides an opportunity to increase ecosystem productivity, especially in agricultural systems. To what extent is highly uncertain, particularly when combined with changing temperature and precipitation. It has recently been demonstrated that seasonal water supply is the strongest controller of the productivity response to high carbon dioxide concentrations of grasslands. This project aims to elucidate the processes governing this response and develop simple models that could allow the conditions required to maximise the productivity benefit from rising carbon dioxide concentration to be calculated.Read moreRead less
Manipulating plant root exudation for soil-borne disease control. This project expects to fundamentally advance analysis and manipulation of root exudation, determine influence of rhizosphere microbiota on exudation, molecular responses to resting spore stimulation and to develop novel disease controls. Expected outcomes of this project include the demonstrated potential of novel disease mitigation and student training in innovative approaches to plant pathology and analytical chemistry. This sh ....Manipulating plant root exudation for soil-borne disease control. This project expects to fundamentally advance analysis and manipulation of root exudation, determine influence of rhizosphere microbiota on exudation, molecular responses to resting spore stimulation and to develop novel disease controls. Expected outcomes of this project include the demonstrated potential of novel disease mitigation and student training in innovative approaches to plant pathology and analytical chemistry. This should provide significant benefits, such as effective disease management tools.Read moreRead less
Industrial Transformation Research Hubs - Grant ID: IH180100002
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$5,000,000.00
Summary
ARC Research Hub for Driving Farming Productivity and Disease Prevention. The ARC Research Hub for Driving Farming Productivity and Disease Prevention aims to increase farm production and disease prevention through advancing and transferring new artificial intelligence technologies into industrial deployment. The Hub will combine machine vision, machine learning, software quality control, engineering, biology, and farming industries to develop technologies to build more intelligent systems. Thes ....ARC Research Hub for Driving Farming Productivity and Disease Prevention. The ARC Research Hub for Driving Farming Productivity and Disease Prevention aims to increase farm production and disease prevention through advancing and transferring new artificial intelligence technologies into industrial deployment. The Hub will combine machine vision, machine learning, software quality control, engineering, biology, and farming industries to develop technologies to build more intelligent systems. These dynamic systems will help determine what goal to achieve and the most efficient plan to achieve it. This Hub is expected to contribute to higher farming efficiency, lower production costs and fewer disease risks, giving the Australian industry new business opportunities and an international competitive advantage.Read moreRead less
Membrane transporters in oxidative stress signalling and tolerance in plants. Oxidative stress imposed by salinity and drought severely limits agricultural crop production, resulting in multibillion dollar losses to farmers. Australia is one of the driest continents, with a significant proportion of arable land affected by salinity. Thus, developing salt- and drought tolerant species is critical to minimise the impact of these stresses on crop production. This project will reveal specific ionic ....Membrane transporters in oxidative stress signalling and tolerance in plants. Oxidative stress imposed by salinity and drought severely limits agricultural crop production, resulting in multibillion dollar losses to farmers. Australia is one of the driest continents, with a significant proportion of arable land affected by salinity. Thus, developing salt- and drought tolerant species is critical to minimise the impact of these stresses on crop production. This project will reveal specific ionic mechanisms mediating reactive oxygen species signalling and tolerance in plants. This will help achieve the above goal by providing plant breeders with vital information on key genes controlling oxidative stress tolerance in plants. Read moreRead less