RIRDC ANNUAL OPERATIONAL PLAN 2007-2008

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RIRDC ANNUAL OPERATIONAL PLAN
2007-2008

Australian Government Research Priorities

On 8 May 2007 the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry announced new Rural Research and Development Priorities. The Government has also issued a set of National R&D Priorities. This section describes how RIRDC’s R&D investments will be aligned with these priorities in 2007–08.

Allocation of RIRDC’s R&D Expenditure 2007–08 to Government Research Priorities

The National Research Priorities
The following addresses the National R&D Priorities and associated goals that are relevant to RIRDC’s statutory role.

An Environmentally Sustainable Australia
A1: Water – a critical resource

The Wildflower and Native Plants Program will identify a means of optimising irrigation scheduling techniques for key wildflower crops; and

The Rice Program will provide rice growers with improved water management protocols.

A2: Transforming existing industries

The Rice Program will develop whole farm planning and assessment tools to ensure profitability and environmental sustainability in rice production; and

The pasture Seeds Program will investigate mechanisms for incorporating environmental considerations in sustainable production systems for pasture seeds.

A3: Overcoming soil loss, salinity and acidity

The Joint Venture Agroforestry Program will undertake research to identify new products from woody perennials, particularly for broadscale planting in low to medium rainfall zones, to address dryland salinity and manage landscape hydrology.

A4: Reducing and capturing emissions in transport and energy generation

RIRDC, together with a group of RDCs, has commissioned a consultancy to prepare a business plan for future RDC joint investment in energy issues that impact on the rural sector. Issues likely to be covered include energy efficiency, use of alternative fuels or alternative energy resources and the role of carbon trading.

A7: Responding to climate change and variability

A new Climate Change and Variability Program is currently being scoped by Land & Water Australia for co-investment with other RDCs commencing 2007–08. RIRDC proposes to set aside $100,000 of its core funds as a potential participant. The new program is likely to have the following five themes:

Seasonal forecasting
Water resources
Agricultural applications
Adaptation to climate change
Adoption and communications

Promoting and maintaining good health
B3: Preventative healthcare
The health and safety of farm families is a fundamental rural issue. Since 2001 RIRDC and a number of Rural R&D Corporations have been partners in a Joint Research Venture for Farm Health and Safety whose objective has been to coordinate and support R&D to develop, implement, monitor and evaluate safe systems of work on farms across all rural industries. This joint venture is due to finish in June 2007 and RIRDC is facilitating the development of a new Collaborative Partnership for Health and Safety in Primary Industries.

Activities in other programs that will contribute to this priority include:

Addressing relevant safety issues in the tea tree industry;

Researching the anticancer activity of tea tree oil;

Assessing tea tree oil as a beneficial treatment for decolonisation of MRSA positive chronic wounds;

Evaluating promising new strategies for controlling microbiological contamination of chicken products;

Investigating health and safety issues affecting the horse industry with particular reference to jockey and rider injury;

Developing and evaluating nutritional and management strategies aimed at maximising the efficiency of lean chicken meat production; and

Determining the therapeutic values of specific floral species in honey production.

B4: Strengthening Australia’s social and economic fabric
RIRDC will introduce a new Rural People and Learning Systems Program in 2007-2008 whose objective is to improve productivity, environmental sustainability, and wellbeing in rural and regional Australia through R&D that contributes to building stronger and innovative institutions, communities, group activities and personal capacities. Program strategies for 2007-2008 involve:

Investigating the regional impact that changes in non-agricultural and regional infrastructure have on the agricultural sector;

Identifying factors that would contribute to the amelioration of demographic and structural change in rural and regional Australia; and

Exploring how non-profit decision drivers (e.g. individual preferences and lifestyles, local resource recognition and culture and land attachment) can be used to manage and adapt to change.

Frontier Technologies for Building and Transforming Australian Industries
C2 Frontier technologies
Development of new technologies and products is fundamental to productivity growth in Australia’s rural industries and to maintaining global competitiveness. Proposed research strategies relating to new technologies include:

Scoping a new program to meet Australia’s research and development needs for the development of sustainable and profitable bioenergy and bioproducts industries;
Developing a database of DNA fingerprints for economically important species and chemotypes of medicinal herbs to ensure quality assurance;
Investigating the development of plasma polymerised thin films from Australian tea tree oil;
Developing cold tolerant rice varieties; and
Fostering emerging sciences / technologies and risk assessment in the pasture seeds industry.

C: Promoting an innovation culture and economy
RIRDC manages the Cooperative Joint Venture on Capacity Building Program (CVCB) on behalf of a number of RDC partners and other agencies. The mission of the CVCB is to ensure an effective system for continuous capacity building in primary industries in Australia by coordinating and funding a targeted R&D program. The program is nearing the end of its first stage and in 2007–08 it will focus on synthesising and communicating its key findings. A research prospectus for a possible new stage of the CVCB will also be developed.

Other program activities relevant to this priority include:

The Rural People and Learning Systems Program will investigate the impact and application of innovative communication technologies on agricultural industries and rural communities;

RIRDC’s Leadership Program will undertake a gap analysis of RIRDC’s current investment scope in this area and develop a strategic, five-year plan; and

RIRDC will continue to support a postgraduate scholarship program and the Rural Women’s Award.

Safeguarding Australia
D3: Protecting Australia from invasive pests and diseases

The Chicken Meat Program will assist the industry to develop and adopt improved disease prevention, management and diagnostic techniques.
The Honeybee Program will release reports for bee keepers outlining lessons in pest and disease management gathered in New Zealand and establishing controls for the small hive beetle.

Productivity and Adding Value
Improve the productivity and profitability of existing industries and support the development of viable new rural industries
Improving the productivity and profitability of existing industries and supporting the development of viable new rural industries are two of RIRDC’s core functions and are fundamental to the strategies of its industry focused portfolios and programs. Key investment strategies and expected outputs will be:

A strategic review of how RIRDC supports R&D for new rural industries and further work to improve data availability;

A New Rural Industries Resource Centre (dependent upon external funding) to provide information to new rural industries and act as a communications and networking hub;

Release of growers’ guides for green tea and olives;

Researching native legumes as a grain crop for diversification in Australia;

Investigating an integrated polyculture industry;

Investigating Australian wild rice as a new sustainable wild food enterprise;

Continued improvement in artificial insemination conception rates in alpaca;

Developing further benchmarking to increase production performance particularly for angora goats;

Understanding of potential increased areas in which kangaroo can be commercially harvested, to inform government policy considerations;

Developing a snap-shot of meat processing capacity and operations for new rural industries;

Developing and fine tuning best practice procedures for commercial production of essential oil crops through detailed high quality crop manuals and their adoption;

Quantification of resource use across the chicken meat industry and identification of opportunities for more efficient resource management;

Complementary research to the existing breeding and quality evaluation activities in the rice industry (with special emphasis on yield, quality and cold tolerance);

Improving rice crop establishment, agronomy, physiology, nutrition management and precision agriculture;

Development of innovative pasture seed production technologies to ensure the commercial success of new varieties; and

Improving productivity in buffalo production by continuing to invest in breeding and reproduction R&D.

Supply Chain and Markets

Better understand and respond to domestic and international market and consumer requirements and improve the flow of such information through the whole of the supply chain, including to consumers

R&D strategies in RIRDC’s industry programs recognise the importance of understanding the nature of the supply chain and the need for market and consumer requirements to flow through the whole chain. Activities that will contribute to this priority will include:

Development of a business plans for kakadu plum;

Production of a tropical fruits product description language handbook;

Export opportunities identified for crocodile and camel skins in Italy and USA;

Development of product traceability options for new meat products;

Release of product description languages and support material for minor tropical crops in northern Australia;

Development of a new five-year R&D plan for the Essential Oils and Plant Extracts Industries;

Production and communication of commercially relevant product specifications for wildflowers;

Support for activities associated with the implementation of market focused Vension Alliances;

Development of a prospectus for joint investment in trade R&D by the Rural R&D Corporations; and

Synthesising knowledge for organic farming systems and supply-chain / food safety.

Natural Resource Management
Support effective management of Australia’s natural resources to ensure primary industries are both economically and environmentally sustainable
The Joint Venture Agroforestry Program (JVAP), which RIRDC has managed along with a range of RDC and other funding partners since 1993, assists the development of profitable agroforestry industries while delivering beneficial natural resource management outcomes. Activities in 2007-2008 that will contribute to the Government’s environmental priority include:

Coordinating a regional assessment and prioritisation of catchments suitable for significant expansion in agroforestry to address regional economic, social and environmental targets;

Identifying new products from woody perennials, particularly for broadscale planting in low to medium rainfall zones, to address dryland salinity and manage landscape hydrology; and

Defining the nature, quantity and impacts of environmental services provided by agroforestry (including private native forestry and farm forestry).

RIRDC’s Environment and Farm Management Program is:

assisting land managers understand and use GIS packages and computer-based farm management services particularly through high speed data providers; and

supporting innovation and the use of frontier technologies that are applicable across industry sectors and improve the efficiency of food, fibre and bioenergy production

The Rangelands and Wildlife Systems Program, with funding from the National Landcare Program, has established Sustainable Wildlife Enterprises (SWE) trials to integrate Australia’s native wildlife into existing agricultural enterprises. Activities this year will include:

estimating kangaroo numbers that enable landholders to more effectively manage populations and integrate wildlife with their property and natural resource management plans;

identifying markets for products that are badged as leading to net conservation gain; and

sharing information of experiences from the trial sites and encouraging regional collaboration in natural resource management and wildlife planning.

Activities in other RIRDC programs that will contribute to this priority include:

Identifying a means of optimising irrigation scheduling techniques for key wildflower crops;

Providing rice growers with improved water management protocols;

Researching effective and sustainable control of major rice weeds, pests and diseases;

Developing whole farm planning and assessment tools to ensure profitability and environmental sustainability in rice production; and

Investigating mechanisms for incorporating environmental considerations in sustainable production systems for pasture seeds.

Climate Variability and Climate Change

Build resilience to climate variability and adapt to climate change

Seasonal forecasting

Water resources

Agricultural applications

Adaptation to climate change

Adoption and communications

Biosecurity
Protect Australia’s community, primary industries and environment from biosecurity threats
RIRDC has a Food Integrity and Biosecurity Program that aims to deliver research and development to enable Australia to maintain its ability to deal with the threats that pest, disease and bio-terrorism pose to food, to crops, to livestock and to enable access to national and international markets. The program has the following strategies for 2007-2008:

Assessing the risk posed to industry and human health by peri-urban producers and alternative distribution systems (such as farmer’s markets);

Developing a framework for or a generic approach to codes of practice for on-farm biosecurity and food integrity that promotes step-wise improvement; and

Investigating technologies to support track and trace systems that will be effective in small industries.

In addition, the Chicken Meat Program will assist the industry to develop and adopt improved disease prevention, management and diagnostic techniques.

Supporting the Rural Research and Development Priorities
Improve the skills to undertake research and apply its findings
Maintaining and improving the skills of researchers is becoming an important issue, particularly for Australia’s new rural industries. RIRDC has initiated an annual consultative forum with its key research providers to help them better understand RIRDC’s processes and R&D priorities and to keep the Corporation better informed about changes in research capacity. In addition RIRDC is considering how, through its programs it can foster improved research capacity. Activities in 2007-2008 will include:

Exploring options for RDCs to pool their scholarship awards;

Awarding scholarships for postgraduate students across at least two of RIRDC programs;

Exploring the potential to award research fellowships in areas identified to be gaps within RIRDC’s research programs;

Including, as appropriate, post-graduate in projects to increase research capacity for the rare fibre industries;

The Buffalo Program will fund international visits for industry representatives and researchers.

Promote the development of new and existing technology

Development of new technologies and products is fundamental to productivity growth in Australia’s rural industries and to maintaining global competitiveness. Proposed research strategies relating to new technologies and products include:

Scoping a new program to meet Australia’s research and development needs for the development of sustainable and profitable bioenergy and bioproducts industries;

Developing a database of DNA fingerprints for economically important species and chemotypes of medicinal herbs to ensure quality assurance;

Investigating the development of plasma polymerised thin films from Australian tea tree oil;

Developing cold tolerant rice varieties; and

Fostering emerging sciences / technologies and risk assessment in the pasture seeds industry.

RIRDC’s Performance Framework
From individual effort to Corporate outcome

RIRDC’s Portfolios and Programs

RIRDC 2007–08 Budget
Table 1: Budgeted Income Statement
Table 1: Budgeted Income Statement
Table 1: Budgeted Income Statement
Table 2: Budgeted Balance Sheet
Table 3: Budgeted Statement of Cash Flows
Table 4: Budgeted Program Funding by Source

Table 1: Budgeted Income Statement

Table 2: Budgeted Balance Sheet

Table 3: Budgeted Statement of Cash Flows

Table 4: Budgeted Program Funding by Source

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