Australia's Chief Scientist calls for greater collaboration between farmers and scientists
Australia's Chief Scientist has called for more collaboration between the country's scientists and farmers.
In Hobart for a meeting of Australia's state chief scientists, Professor Ian Chubb says in the face of world food security problems science and innovation in Australian agriculture is vital in meeting that challenge.
"To continue to have prosperous farming, a farming community that is able to produce food for Australia and food for export, then there is going to have to be some sort of adaptation"
"Unless we've got scientists in there working with the farmers to identify what is the best way to adapt and what are the best crops given a particular set of circumstances, land, fertility, rain, water, aquifers, all those sorts of things, then we will probably find that we are caught unawares."
Professor Chubb says in order to do this, Australia needs more agricultural scientists, especially recent university graduates, with contemporary knowledge of genetics, soil dynamics and chemistry.
"It's about the application of science to get better.
To get different crops, crops that can grow in high saline soil and still be nutritious, still be high quality, still meet the quality standards that we would expect, just be a bit different.
Science working with the farmer will point the way to how it could be different."
Professor Chubb also says that in the decades to come, greater alignment and focus between science and agriculture on a national level is needed for Australia to remain competitive in the region.