About RIRDC

RIRDC Corporate Plan 2007–2012

The RIRDC Corporate Plan 2007-2012 sets out the goals that RIRDC will work to achieve over the five years from July 2007, and our strategies for achieving them. It also describes our business model, our investment framework and how we will measure our performance and progress.

RIRDC is in the knowledge business - we invest in research and development that will create the knowledge to support more profitable, sustainable and dynamic rural industries and communities. Our special role is to maximise the knowledge outcomes from our R&D investments for:

• new rural industries
• specific established rural industries
• national rural issues.

RIRDC focuses its R&D investments at the applied end of the innovation pipeline.
We aim to maximize knowledge outcomes-the benefits for rural industries and communities-by investing in and managing R&D that:

• will be adopted
• addresses an agreed priority
• meets performance objectives
• contributes to the outcomes we seek.

Our R&D investments are guided by strategic five-year plans for each sector. An ongoing program of evaluation of the returns on these investments feeds into a wider program of evaluation across all of the Rural Research and Development Corporations and companies.

Australia's rural sector operates in a challenging environment that combines a highly variable and changing climate, declining terms of trade, distorted markets, natural resource management pressures and changing consumer preferences. In response, the sector has sustained high levels of productivity and growth in output. A key driver of continued profitability and sustainability is knowledge and innovation. RIRDC's investments in research and development provide that knowledge - to capture opportunity and manage change.

Confronted with climate change and escalating competition in global commodity markets, Australia needs to differentiate and diversify. RIRDC has a specific role in encouraging and enabling rural industry diversification that will contribute to vibrant rural regions.

Many issues are common across rural industries and regions, including trade and market access, energy and human capacity. RIRDC has a special role in R&D on these national rural issues.

RIRDC recognises that research and development is a critical piece - but not the only piece - of the puzzle of rural industry success. We see industry capacity; leadership and institutional strength; government policy settings; access to markets; and capital as key drivers. To this end, we work with key stakeholders in rural industry and government to ensure that our research and development is targeted for maximum impact and adoption.

RIRDC's previous Corporate Plan for 2003-2008 was framed in the context of newly released government national and rural research priorities. Key achievements under that Plan's four goals include:

• Develop new opportunities - RIRDC has supported research investments on all aspects of the supply chain and opened up new opportunities for a wide variety of new animal and plant products
• Adopt new technologies and systems for established rural industries - RIRDC research has produced new varieties of rice, fodder and pasture seeds, improved rice water use efficiency by 45 percent, reduced chicken meat feed costs, produced a new chicken vaccine and improved the quality of Australian honey production
• Improve competitiveness and sustainability of Australian agriculture - RIRDC research has identified options and strategies to remove impediments to the development of a globally competitive agricultural sector, including studies on trade policy reform that have provided considerable assistance to Australia's international trade negotiators. Promoting sustainability has been central to RIRDC's strategies and it has made a vital contribution to new knowledge on agroforestry, particularly in low rainfall areas, and to the trialling of wildlife based solutions in Australia's rangelands.
• Underpin innovation and change in Australian agriculture - RIRDC has supported and coordinated ground-breaking research on building human capacity in rural Australia and has been in the forefront of the development of rural leaders through its support for the Australian Rural Leadership Program and the RIRDC Rural Women's Award. RIRDC R&D investments have also provided new insights into the change processes taking place on farms and in rural communities and its support for farm health and safety research has been central to the growing awareness of this important issue.

RIRDC's new Corporate Plan will build on these achievements. It has been developed a year ahead of the conclusion of the previous Plan because RIRDC's external operating environment has changed and the Corporation has changed its investment framework and structure. We have re-defined the Corporation's goals and strategic directions to address this new environment.

We are confident that the goals and strategies outlined in this Plan will guide the Corporation to a new stage in its delivery of a more profitable, dynamic and sustainable rural sector for its industry and government stakeholders.