Collaboration
Dr Mathew Abang, a pulse pathologist from ICARDA with GRDC’s Brondwen MacLean on his visit to the GRDC office. Photo: GRDC
The GRDC’s primary objective is ‘to support effective competition by Australian grain growers in global grain markets, through enhanced profitability and sustainability’. The strategies that underlie this objective involve both a strong focus on measuring productivity and extensive collaboration with research partners, including state agencies, CSIRO, universities, other RDCs and all sectors of the Australian grains industry, as well as international organisations.
The GRDC’s strategy to coordinate a national grains R&D agenda and portfolio involves collaboration both within the grains industry and across the rural sector. Communication, engagement, commitment and a shared understanding of the purposes for cooperation are critical success factors for greater collaboration.
The GRDC has been providing leadership in collaborating with other RDCs, as well as with federal, state and territory governments, through a range of co-investment, coordination and communication activities aimed at increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of Australia’s rural R&D investment.
Australian grains industry collaboration
In the grains industry, the GRDC and its research partners (state agencies, CSIRO and universities) are involved in a number of nationally coordinated R&D programs that tackle key industry issues, including:
- pre-breeding
- crop breeding
- variety trials
- extension of R&D outcomes
- rust control
- farming practices
- integrated weed management
- salinity
- plant genetic resources.
To further strengthen collaboration with partners within the grains industry, through its involvement with the Primary Industries Standing Committee of the Primary Industry Ministerial Council the GRDC has driven the development of a national strategy for grains RD&E. A nationally agreed and coordinated strategy will be essential to maintain productivity and innovation within the grains industry. The strategy is expected to be finalised by mid-2009.
The GRDC is also increasingly involved in collaboration along the grains industry value chain. In 2007–08, the GRDC engaged with value chain issues such as the promotion of the nutritional and health value of grains (through Go Grains), the development of high-amylose wheat, grain storage and grain hygiene.
The Global Crop Diversity Trust, with support from the GRDC, funds the long-term conservation of seeds in the so-called doomsday vault located in an arctic mountainside on Norway’s remote Svalbard islands.
Also, in partnership with the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research, state agencies, the University of Melbourne and the University of Western Australia, the GRDC continued to support a collaboration with Chinese and Indian research institutions. The project’s primary aim is to increase canola-quality oilseed production in Australia, China and India through the provision of Brassica napus and Brassica juncea germplasm with improved yield, quality, disease resistance and agronomic characteristics.
International delegations
In 2007–08, the GRDC hosted a number of international delegations, mainly from countries with well-established grains industries. Through such visits, the delegations learn about Australia’s industry–government collaborative approach to R&D, while the GRDC gathers first-hand information about the industry drivers in other countries.
High-level visits of particular note included those of:
- Dr Mahmoud Solh, Director General of ICARDA, and his assistant Mr Scott Christiansen, in August 2007
- Dr Mathew Abang, a pulse pathologist from ICARDA, in October 2007
- a 25-member delegation from the Asociación de Cooperativas Argentinas, Argentina, in November 2007
- a 14-member delegation from Anhui Provincial Grains Bureau, China, in November 2007
- Dr Ali Hussein Kodhim-al-Behadli, Iraqi Agriculture Minister, in January 2008
- a three-person delegation from Agriculture Research Division, Alberta Agriculture and Food, Canada, in February 2008
- an eight-person delegation from Alberta Crop Industry Development Fund Ltd, Canada, in February 2008
- a five-person delegation from the Ministry of Agriculture, China, in April 2008.
Australian cross-sectoral collaboration
On issues that span the Australian rural sector, such as climate change, the GRDC is involved in a number of collaborations with other RDCs.
These include:
- the development of the national Climate Change Research Strategy for Primary Industries
- the Managing Climate Variability program
- the Healthy Soils for Sustainable Farms program
- the Grain and Graze program
- a cooperative venture for capacity building
- the Joint Research Venture for Farm Health and Safety
- the Premium Grains for Livestock Program.
The GRDC was also actively involved with the other RDCs in developing a common method for impact assessment studies, and sharing information on project management, legal agreements, records management, archiving and intellectual property.
International collaboration
The GRDC’s position as a major investor in grains R&D has placed it in a strong position to identify, broker or facilitate collaborative international ventures which will benefit the Australian grains industry. Consistent with its core strategy of growing and leveraging total grains R&D, the GRDC continued to establish and maintain key international relationships in 2007–08, including:
- ongoing investments with the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT) in Mexico—to improve long-term productivity and sustainability of the Australian wheat industry
- further strengthening of the existing strategic alliance with ICARDA (the International Centre for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas) in Syria— on chickpea breeding for drought tolerance and disease resistance and enhancement of yield and yield stability of spring bread wheat
- involvement in the Global Crop Diversity Trust—in 2007–08, the GRDC provided $1.5 million to the trust, which exists to provide a permanent source of funds to support the long-term conservation of germplasm on which the world depends for food security.
| C A S E S T U D Y : Streamlining End Point Royalty collection and compliance |
Historically, plant breeding in Australia was mainly conducted by state government departments and universities and was largely government funded. Improved varieties were freely released to producers. Over the past two decades, plant-breeding programs have had to increasingly rely on funding from industry, through organisations such as the GRDC, and on End Point Royalties (EPRs) paid for successful varieties. EPRs are payments made to the owner/s of a plant variety for the right to grow that variety. As the phrase ‘end point’ suggests, EPRs are paid on production rather than seed sales: the royalty is paid when a grower sells the grain produced from a protected variety. Today, the market for wheat varieties in Australia is large enough to support commercially viable wheat-breeding programs. However, the viability of commercial breeding depends on an effective EPR collection system, based on a whole-of-industry ‘culture of compliance’. Over the past 18 months the GRDC has worked with plant breeders, seed companies, bulk handlers and grain marketers to improve the effectiveness of EPR collection and build the culture of compliance. The Australian grains industry has formed an EPR Steering Committee made up of representatives of breeding organisations and industry bodies: Australian Grain Technologies, the Australian Seed Federation, Barley Breeding Australia, Canola Breeders Western Australia, InterGrain, LongReach Plant Breeders, the National Agricultural Commodities Marketing Association, Nufarm, Pulse Breeding Australia, University of Adelaide and the GRDC. The GRDC has provided input into the EPR Steering Committee, including secretarial support and legal advice. The GRDC has also supported research aimed at identifying ways to improve the efficiency of EPR collection and administration. Working with each sector in the grains value chain is integral to simplifying EPR collection arrangements. In particular, the EPR Steering Committee has consulted extensively with royalty managers and grain traders, individually and through their industry representative bodies. A key outcome in 2007–08 was the development of the Industry Standard PBR Licence Agreement. The agreement strikes a balance in meeting the interests of both the owners of plant breeder’s rights (PBR) and grain growers. The GRDC published a fact sheet on the PBR agreement, and distributed 43,000 copies through the Ground Cover magazine. Both the fact sheet and an agreement template can be accessed through the GRDC website. |
| C A S E S T U D Y : Ensuring growers remain safe on farm |
As a partner in the Joint Research Venture for Farm Health and Safety, the GRDC continued to work with other rural R&D corporations (RDCs) to research and develop packages that raise awareness of farm health and safety issues and better practices in 2007–08. The joint research venture was a collaborative partnership between Australian Wool Innovation Ltd, the Cotton RDC, Meat and Livestock Australia, the Rural Industries RDC, the Sugar RDC and the GRDC. In 2007–08, the joint venture launched OH&S— A quick reference guide for broadacre agriculture. This publication was developed to be used in conjunction with risk management plans, to ensure that workplace incidents are reduced and to minimise the risk of injury and deaths in Australian farming systems. To ensure this important publication received widespread distribution, the GRDC made the guide available at all GRDC Adviser Updates held across Australia during February and March 2008. Several thousand copies were distributed to farm advisers nationally. Feedback received from participants at the update sessions was very positive. The joint venture’s other activities in 2007–08 included:
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