Primary Industries and Regions SA (PIRSA), also known as Primary Industries and Regions South Australia, and the Department of Primary Industries and Regions SA, is an agency of the

South Australian Government The Government of South Australia, also referred to as the South Australian Government, SA Government or more formally, His Majesty’s Government, is the Australian state democratic administrative authority of South Australia. It is modelled o ...

whose focus is the economic development of the state of

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

. Its key areas of work include

primary sector The primary sector of the economy includes any Industry (economics), industry involved in the extraction and production of raw materials, such as farming, logging, fishing, forestry and mining. The primary sector tends to make up a larger portio ...

industries (in South Australia, mainly

farming 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 peopl ...

), and

biosecurity Biosecurity refers to measures aimed at preventing the introduction and/or spread of harmful organisms (e.g. viruses, bacteria, etc.) to animals and plants in order to minimize the risk of transmission of infectious disease. In agriculture, thes ...

Description

The agency is referred to as the Department of Primary Industries and Regions SA on the main government website, but refers to itself as Primary Industries and Regions SA (PIRSA) on its own website. Along with SARDI, PIRSA has been located at the Waite Research Precinct, alongside the University of Adelaide's Waite campus since about 1994. A new

chief executive A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

, Michelle Edge, was appointed on 10 March 2020, after Scott Ashby's contract was due to expire in April 2020. The purpose of the agency is to "grow primary industries and drive regional development". Its key areas of work include primary sector industries (in SA, mainly

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 t ...

viticulture Viticulture (from the Latin word for '' vine'') or winegrowing (wine growing) is the cultivation and harvesting of grapes. It is a branch of the science of horticulture. While the native territory of '' Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine, ...

and farming of

livestock Livestock are the domesticated animals raised in an agricultural setting to provide labor and produce diversified products for consumption such as meat, eggs, milk, fur, leather, and wool. The term is sometimes used to refer solely to animal ...

), marine aquaculture, and

. Agribusiness, covering "food and beverage, field crops, meat and livestock,

wine Wine is an alcoholic drink typically made from fermented grapes. Yeast consumes the sugar in the grapes and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Different varieties of grapes and strains of yeasts are m ...

, seafood,

horticulture Horticulture is the branch of agriculture that deals with the art, science, technology, and business of plant cultivation. It includes the cultivation of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, herbs, sprouts, mushrooms, algae, flowers, seaweeds and no ...

and

forestry Forestry is the science and craft of creating, managing, planting, using, conserving and repairing forests, woodlands, and associated resources for human and environmental benefits. Forestry is practiced in plantations and natural stands. ...

sectors" are seen as mainstays and growth areas of the South Australian economy. The Fisheries and Aquaculture division manages the state's

fish stocks Fish stocks are subpopulations of a particular species of fish, for which intrinsic parameters (growth, recruitment, mortality and fishing mortality) are traditionally regarded as the significant factors determining the stock's population dyn ...

, along with industry and the community, by developing and implementing policy and regulations to ensure sustainable development of the aquaculture industry. It employs Fisheries Officers to monitor compliance with fishing regulations. PIRSA runs a grants program, for farm industry business owners and operators.

SARDI

The South Australian Research and Development Institute (SARDI) is the State Government's principal research institute, and forms part of PIRSA.

Organisational history

In October 1992 the South Australian Department of Agriculture, the Department of Fisheries, and the Department of Woods and Forests merged to form Primary Industries South Australia (PISA). In late 1996 or early 1997 the name of Mines and Energy South Australia was changed to Mines and Energy Resources South Australia (MERSA). In October 1997, PISA and MERSA merged to form Primary Industries and Resources SA, or Department of Primary Industries and Resources SA (PIRSA). In 2011/12 it changed its name to Primary Industries and Regions SA. In early 2019, the Pastoral Board of South Australia, which governs pastoral leases in South Australia, moved from the Department for Environment and Water, to PIRSA. In August 2019, PIRSA and SARDI entered a partnership with the

University of Adelaide The University of Adelaide (informally Adelaide University) is a public research university located in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third-oldest university in Australia. The university's main campus is located on N ...

, in which scientists in diverse disciplines will be able to access PIRSA's research farms share their academic knowledge to the agricultural sector. The collaboration is anticipated to help develop SA's expertise in dryland agriculture, by encouraging

multi-disciplinary Interdisciplinarity or interdisciplinary studies involves the combination of multiple academic disciplines into one activity (e.g., a research project). It draws knowledge from several other fields like sociology, anthropology, psychology, ec ...

research and help to bring about new export opportunities.

New Biosecurity Act for SA

, PIRSA is managing a review of current biosecurity legislation in South Australia, which has until now been covered by multiple pieces of legislation, with the aim of creating a new single and cohesive Biosecurity Act for the state based on the current policy developed by PIRSA.

Examples of PIRSA's work

In November 2007, PIRSA administered a travel survey in Adelaide, which identified the need for secure parking for bicycles in the city. A parking station for 21 bikes was built in a basement at the

Grenfell Centre Grenfell Centre, also known as The Black Stump, is a high rise office building located at 25 Grenfell Street in the Adelaide city centre. It is the ninth tallest building in Adelaide, South Australia, with a height of . It was the tallest bui ...

, which proved very popular. It also established a

Bicycle User Group A Bicycle User Group (BUG or B.U.G.) is a group set up to promote cycling issues in, for example, a place of employment or a local government area. A BUG might be part of or affiliated with a bigger organization representing cyclists' interests at C ...

(BUG). Two men were caught fishing at

Wallaroo Wallaroo is a common name for several species of moderately large macropods, intermediate in size between the kangaroos and the wallabies. The word "wallaroo" is from the Dharug ''walaru'', and not a portmanteau of the words "kangaroo" and "wal ...

by PIRSA Fisheries Officers for snapper during the annual closure period in December 2014, and later fined for failing to comply with several offences. PIRSA were involved, along with other agencies, in

impact assessment Policy Impact Assessments (IAs) are formal, evidence-based procedures that assess the economic, social, and environmental effects of public policy. They have been incorporated into policy making in the OECD countries and the European Commission. Ke ...

of the damage done to many types of agricultural enterprises in South Australia by the December 2019 bushfires, in order to help with landholders' recovery from the fire. Advice on caring for stock, technical support and coordinating various types of assistance were given those who suffered losses from the fires, many of whom were located around Cudlee Creek and on

Kangaroo Island Kangaroo Island, also known as Karta Pintingga (literally 'Island of the Dead' in the language of the Kaurna people), is Australia's third-largest island, after Tasmania and Melville Island. It lies in the state of South Australia, southwest ...

Alternative names

These names are supplied by the

authority record In information science, authority control is a process that organizes information, for example in library catalogs, by using a single, distinct spelling of a name (heading) or a numeric identifier for each topic. The word ''authority'' in ''aut ...

held by

Libraries Australia The Australian National Bibliographic Database (ANBD), formerly part of the Australian Bibliographic Network (ABN) and for some years renamed Kinetica, is a national shared library cataloguing network, hosted by the National Library of Australia. ...

: *Primary Industries and Resources South Australia *South Australia. Dept. of Primary Industries and Resources *South Australia. Department of Primary Industries and Resources *P.I.R.S.A. *PIRSA *South Australia. Primary Industries and Resources SA *South Australia. Dept. of Primary Industries and Natural Resources Some of the above are standardised names used by librarians, which in natural English as per article names here would be Department of Primary Industries and Regions, as per sa.gov.au .

References

External links

*{{official, https://www.pir.sa.gov.au/home Agriculture in South Australia Biosecurity Government agencies of South Australia Primary industry departments in Australia