RIRDC Annual Operation Plan

KEY ELEMENTS OF 1998-1999 PLAN

Program 1: Prospective New Industries

Objective: To investigate and develop prospects for new industries in rural and regional Australia 

Budget: $2,211,555

The budget for this program will be financed principally from Commonwealth appropriation funds but there are also some voluntary industry contributions.

Key activities proposed in 1998-99:

1.1 New Plant Products

1.2 New Animal Products

Program 2: Emerging New Industries

Objective: To expedite the growth and development of emerging new rural and associated processing industries 

Budget: $6,141,102

 

 

The budget for this program will be financed from Commonwealth appropriation funds, statutory levies on the deer industry, cashmere and mohair production, matching $ for $ on those levy funds and voluntary industry contributions.

The Joint Venture Agroforestry Program will also receive funds from LWRRDC, FWPRDC, the Natural Heritage Trust (NHT) and the Murray Darling Basin Commission.

Key activities proposed in 1998-99:

2.1 Asian Foods

2.2 Agroforestry and Farm Forestry

2.3 Cashews

2.4 Deer

2.5 Essential Oils and Plant Extracts

2.6 Organic Produce

2.7 Rare Natural Animal Fibres

2.8 Tea Tree Oil

2.9 Wildflowers and Native Plants

 

Program 3:   Established Industries

Objective: To maximise the contribution of R&D to the profitability and sustainability of the established rural industries for which RIRDC provides R&D management services 

Budget: $8,092,792

The budget for this program will be financed principally by industry levies and matching $ for $ contributions from the Commonwealth.

Key activities proposed in 1998-99:

3.1 Chicken Meat

3.2 Eggs

3.3 Honeybee

3.4 Rice

3.5 Horses

3.6 Fodder Crops

3.7 Pasture Seeds


Program 4:   Future Agricultural Systems

Objective: To identify key generic cross-sectoral issues confronting the rural sector and devise appropriate R&D programs that will benefit the sector and the nation 

Budget: $3,325,000

The budget for this program will be financed principally from Commonwealth appropriation funding.

However, there is a component of joint funding from other R&D Corporations including Farm Occupational Health and Safety amounting to an expected $141,000 (from Grains R&D Corporation, Meat Research Corporation, Cotton R&D Corporation and International Wool Secretariat).

The methyl bromide levy is estimated to amount to $210,000. In addition, some specific projects within program areas are jointly funded with other organisations.

RIRDC participates in the $5.7m National Climate Variability Program administered by LWRRDC in collaboration with GRDC, DRDC, and IWS. RIRDC contribution is $28,000.

Key activities proposed in 1998-99:

4.1 Global Competitiveness

4.2 Resilient Agricultural Systems

4.3 Human Capital, Communications and Information Systems

 

Portfolio Management

Objective: To position the Corporation as a leading, cost-effective provider of research and development services 

Budget: $1,888,660

Communications

The Corporation has budgeted $500,000 for communications in 1998-99.

Key activities proposed for 1998-99:

Corporate Activities, Finance and Administration

The Corporation has budgeted $.5m for its Corporate activities in 1998-99 including provisions for Directors’ fees and allowances, the Managing Director and his Executive Assistant’s employee expenses, board meeting expenses, corporate consultancies etc. This provision represents 2.1 percent of the Corporation’s 1998-99 budget.

The Corporation has budgeted $.89m for its Finance and Administration activities in 1998-99 including provisions for employee expenses, rental of office premises and other administrative expenditure. This provision represents 3.8 percent of the Corporation’s 1998-99 budget.

Key activities in 1998-99 will:

The Government’s Priorities and Community Benefits

Meeting the Government's Priorities

Broader Community Benefits

On 28 January 1997, the Minister for Primary Industries and Energy, the Honourable John Anderson, MP, advised the Corporation of five Government priorities and asked that each of these priorities be addressed in the research plans of the Corporation. Examples of projects that address each of these priority areas are summarised below. In addition, these priority areas are addressed in each of the components of the 1998-99 Plan by Sub-Program.

In addition to the five priority areas identified by the Minister, the question of broader community benefits from RIRDC funded programs is also discussed.

Meeting the Government’s Priorities

Identify strategic international market access and investment opportunities

Australian agriculture and the Australian economy in general

Increase productivity of land, labour and capital in rural industries

Encourage investment in and uptake of high quality Australian products

Encourage increased processing and delivery of value-added product for market

Protect and enhance Australia’s natural resource base

Broader Community Benefits

One of the important reasons for establishment of RIRDC was to ensure that there is a specific source of funds to support R&D that has wider community benefits, especially R&D areas which are unlikely to be funded by the other R&D Corporations or the private sector.

RIRDC has focused on research which:

New Products and Industries

While many of these wider community benefits come from RIRDC’s core funded research programs they also result from research funded by RIRDC’s levy based R&D programs.

Wider community benefits are an important potential component of RIRDC’s research into new and emerging industries. In many cases, identification of alternative production possibilities for farming groups can provide the diversity and scope for value-adding that can maintain the critical mass necessary to maintain rural towns and improve their viability.

RIRDC’s research covers areas such as investigating market prospects for newer industries and assessing the feasibility and methods for their competitive production.

A recently released book on ‘The New Rural Industries’ has received considerable community wide interest. The book was originally targeted at both farmers wishing to diversify and also investors from the wider community considering investment in agriculture.

During the next year this original information will be complemented with more detailed financial assessments of a subset of these identified new industries.

Several of the new products currently being investigated also have potential to have important impacts on human health that will affect the community well beyond the direct value of the products produced; for example, investigation of the pharmaceutical attributes of Echinacea and tea tree oil.

Food Safety

Although RIRDC’s established industries programs focus primarily on research which benefit all members of the levy paying industry they also have potential to generate significant community wide benefits.

Recent examples include projects in the egg and chicken meat programs that will make significant contributions to understanding the development of and testing for bacterial food contaminants. This research has important implications for all food safety areas not just the poultry industries.

The honey bee program is also supporting research which considers the potential for some types of honey as a therapeutic agent for treating bacteria infections. All of the animal based programs are supporting research that has potential to have significant impacts on the welfare of animals, especially in the chicken meat, egg and horse programs.

In the rice program, research emphasises improved water use, recharge and quality, and also sustainable use of farm chemicals. Better understanding of these areas via this research has potential to have wider benefits to communities along Australia’s major river system. The recently established CRC for Sustainable Rice Production, of which RIRDC is a partner, is expanding the research support in this important area.

The fodder program continues to support research on corynetoxin contamination and effective identification to ensure that they do not enter the food chain and therefore affect the health of the wider community.

Cross-Sectoral Impacts

RIRDC supports a major research effort in areas that have cross-sectoral impacts. The global competitiveness program provides assessments of impediments to Australian trade and of market prospects for all agricultural production.

The impact of this type of research will have ramifications throughout the broader Australian community. Examples, in coming years, include projects which will provide R&D support for negotiators during the next round of WTO trade policy negotiations. Changes in these policies, if they further liberalise world trade, will enhance Australia’s trading potential.

A range of other projects will, in collaboration with the Government’s Supermarket to Asia initiative, identify current and future market developments in many of Australia’s neighbouring countries, with particular emphasis on the implications of the Asian financial crisis.

Many research activities in the resilient agricultural systems program will have potential community wide benefits. These include research on bio-remediation and waste-water management, reduced pesticide risk, and implications of climate change for agricultural production and regional resource use.

Community Safety, Training and Communications

Under its Human Capital, Communications and Information Systems Program RIRDC manages and supports a major collaborative research effort which considers many aspects of rural community occupational health and safety; projects range from development of effective farm safety courses to investigation of causes of traumatic deaths in rural areas.

In addition, RIRDC supports a program of rural leadership training and university scholarships, which focus on building the stock of human capital available to address problems facing the rural sector.

Projects on information technology will look at the importance and implication of developments in communications services for rural communities and their effective links with urban areas and the global economy.

The impacts of all of these research activities have significant implications and benefits for the wider Australian community.