Agrifutures Australia, formerly the Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation (RIRDC), is an Australian

statutory corporation A statutory corporation is a government entity created as a statutory body by statute. Their precise nature varies by jurisdiction, thus, they are statutes owned by a government or controlled by national or sub-national government to the (in ...

set up by the

Australian Government The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government, is the national government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Like other Westminster-style systems of government, the Australian Government i ...

in 1990 to help fund

research and development Research and development (R&D or R+D), known in Europe as research and technological development (RTD), is the set of innovative activities undertaken by corporations or governments in developing new services or products, and improving existi ...

in Australian rural industries.

Origin

The Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation was originally formed as a statutory corporation in July 1990 under the ''Primary Industries and Energy Research and Development Act 1989'' (later renamed the ''Primary Industries Research and Development Act 1989''). It was set up by the

to work with Australian rural industries on the organisation and funding of their research and development needs, in particular for new and emerging industries and for national rural issues.

RDCs

The organisation is one of 15 Rural Research and Development Corporations (RDCs) in Australia, and one of the five that is a

, along with Wine Australia, the

Cotton Research and Development Corporation Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus ''Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor perce ...

, the

Fisheries Research and Development Corporation The Fisheries Research and Development Corporation (FRDC) is a statutory corporation that manages research and development investment by the Australian Government and the Australian fishing and aquaculture commercial, recreational and Indigenous ...

and the

Grain Research and Development Corporation A grain is a small, hard, dry fruit (caryopsis) – with or without an attached hull layer – harvested for human or animal consumption. A grain crop is a grain-producing plant. The two main types of commercial grain crops are cereals and legume ...

(the rest are industry-owned). They are funded largely by the government for the purposes of investing in R&D (research and development), with the aim of improving " profitability,

productivity Productivity is the efficiency of production of goods or services expressed by some measure. Measurements of productivity are often expressed as a ratio of an aggregate output to a single input or an aggregate input used in a production proces ...

, competitiveness and long-term

sustainability Specific definitions of sustainability are difficult to agree on and have varied in the literature and over time. The concept of sustainability can be used to guide decisions at the global, national, and individual levels (e.g. sustainable livi ...

of Australia's primary industries".

Function

Agrifuture's focus is

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...

, aiming to improve and grow the profitability of the sector. Australian rural industries and the Australian Government (through the

Department of Agriculture and Water Resources The Australian Government Department of Agriculture and Water Resources was a government department that existed between 2015 and 2019, which was responsible for developing and implementing policies and programs that contribute to strengthening ...

) are major partner-stakeholders. It works to attract and help train agriculturalists and future rural leaders, engages in research into important issues for the sector, and helps to develop the potential of new industry, such as

camel milk Camel milk has supported nomad and pastoral cultures since the domestication of camels millennia ago. Herders may for periods survive solely on the milk when taking the camels on long distances to graze in desert and arid environments, especially i ...

. In addition, it performs R&D for established industries without their own RDCs, such as the

rice Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly ''Oryza glaberrima ''Oryza glaberrima'', commonly known as African rice, is one of the two domesticated rice species. It was first domesticated and grown i ...

, thoroughbred horse, and tea tree oil industries. The organisation also hosts the AgriFutures Rural Women's Award to support the role women play in rural and regional businesses, industries and communities.

Funding

Apart from the annual appropriation from the government, funding comes from industry levies and voluntary industry contributions, and government-specific programs, private companies, rural RDCs, state and territory governments and other research providers.

Past research

RIRDC was involved in early work on developing canola in Australia, which has gone on to become a major crop, and research for the

tropical fruit A tropical fruit one that typically grows in warm climates, or equatorial areas. Tropical fruits Varieties of tropical fruit include: * Acerola ( West Indian Cherry or Barbados Cherry) *Ackee *Banana *Barbadine (granadilla; maracujá-açu in ...

industry saw it expand to more than 400 Australian commercial growers by 2005. RIRDC's research helped improve

yields by 87% per

megalitre The litre (international spelling) or liter (American English spelling) (SI symbols L and l, other symbol used: ℓ) is a metric unit of volume. It is equal to 1 cubic decimetre (dm3), 1000 cubic centimetres (cm3) or 0.001 cubic metre (m3). ...

while reducing water use by 45%. RIRDC's

chicken The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated junglefowl species, with attributes of wild species such as the grey and the Ceylon junglefowl that are originally from Southeastern Asia. Rooster or cock is a term for an adult m ...

meat research led to a new live MG vaccine which holds 40% of that global market and reduced losses in the industry. It also developed three new oaten

hay Hay is grass, legumes, or other herbaceous plants that have been cut and dried to be stored for use as animal fodder, either for large grazing animals raised as livestock, such as cattle, horses, goats, and sheep, or for smaller domesticated ...

varieties – Wintaroo, Brusher and Kangaroo – which are contributed to an export hay market that grew by 200% over the ten years up to around 2005/6. AgriFutures provided a grant of $405,000 in 2019 to Essential Oil Producers Association of Australia for the development of Australian essential oils. On December 2021, AgriFutures Australia created an ''Australian Emerging Tropical Fruits Strategic RD&E Plan'' to identify and promote five tropical fruits with market growth potential; the five fruits were

jackfruit The jackfruit (''Artocarpus heterophyllus''), also known as jack tree, is a species of tree in the fig, mulberry, and breadfruit family (Moraceae). Its origin is in the region between the Western Ghats of southern India, all of Bangladesh, ...

rambutan Rambutan (; taxonomic name: ''Nephelium lappaceum'') is a medium-sized tropical tree in the family Sapindaceae. The name also refers to the edible fruit produced by this tree. The rambutan is native to Southeast Asia. It is closely related to s ...

durian The durian (, ) is the edible fruit of several tree species belonging to the genus ''Durio''. There are 30 recognised ''Durio'' species, at least nine of which produce edible fruit. ''Durio zibethinus'', native to Borneo and Sumatra, is the onl ...

dragon fruit A pitaya () or pitahaya () is the fruit of several different cactus species indigenous to the Americas. Pitaya usually refers to fruit of the genus ''Stenocereus'', while pitahaya or dragon fruit refers to fruit of the genus ''Selenicereus'' ( ...

and

longan ''Dimocarpus longan'', commonly known as the longan () and dragon's eye, is a tropical tree species that produces edible fruit. It is one of the better-known tropical members of the soapberry family Sapindaceae, to which the lychee and rambut ...

References

External links

* {{Authority control Rural organisations in Australia 1990 establishments in Australia Commonwealth Government agencies of Australia Agricultural organisations based in Australia Funding bodies of Australia Research in Australia