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Accountability to IndustryFor the purposes of reporting on operations in 1997–98, RIRDC had three organisations prescribed by Section 7 of its legislation. This requires RIRDC to report annually on its activities each financial period. This accountability runs parallel to RIRDC’s Annual Report to the Minister and the Parliament. Reporting during 1997–98 occurred as follows:
National Farmers’ Federation
The Egg Industry Association 19 November 1997 Australian Chicken Meat Association 19 November 1997 RIRDC’s reporting to these three prescribed bodies was done when industry meetings were being held for their own purposes. The Corporation made no payments towards the costs of these meetings. By correspondence dated 4 December 1997, and again on 13 May, 1998 On 13 March 1998 the Corporation reported to the Deer Industry Association of Australia on the operations of sub-program 2.4 Deer. The cost of this consultation to the Corporation was nearly $4 000.
The reporting of these consultation arrangements is in accord with new guidelines issued by the Minister on 6 July 1998 on the ‘Funding of Consultation Costs by Primary Industry and Energy Portfolio Statutory Authorities’.
The Corporation has a very active publications program. Sales catalogues are issued twice a year and revenue from sales in 1997–98 was $200 000. The corresponding figure in 1996–97 was $100 000. Details on publications issued in 1997–98 for each sub-program are set out under each respective sub-program (pp.*–*). During 1997–98, arrangements were put in place for the Corporation to sell its publication on the web and a trial is expected to commence in September 1998.
The Corporation’s policy on charging is that it seeks to recoup the costs of printing and distribution for sub-program specific publications. Corporate publications are free and, for 1997–98, included:
five year Strategic Plan 1997–2002 1997–98 Annual Report 1997–98 Annual Operational Plan 1998–99 Program Prospectus 1997–98 Current Projects Listing 1997 RIRDC Research Compendium Publications Catalogue Corporate Newsletter (three issues) five year R&D plans for the sub-programs:
During 1997–98, the Corporation’s web site saw some major additions and improvements that resulted in an increase in visits (‘hits’) and an expanded level of information to target audiences and stakeholders.
Major additions included:
The number of weekly visits to the site was static at about 3000 until January 1998 when it leapt to about 6000. Since then the number has varied between 4000 and 6000 a week.
This Annual Report does not contain a listing of projects under contract. There were around 600 at the end June 1998.
As an aid to getting the details on each of these individual projects, the Corporation finalised a report on all projects, which shows their ‘current status’ at the end of May 1998. In addition, all projects completed in 1997–98 have summaries showing their key outcomes. As already noted, this report Research-in-Progress, June 1998 has been published on our web site.
Royalty and Publications Income
Royalties
During 1997–98 the Corporation received royalty income of approximately $31 100. A one–off royalty payment of $19 950 was received from a commercial company in exchange for a transfer of intellectual property rights in relation to an R&D project within the Corporation’s sub-program 4.2 . 'Resilient Agricultural Systems'. The project was associated with population changes and biocontrol of Meliodogyne on roots of woody perennial plants.
Other royalty revenue in 1997–98 included:
Publications Income
The marked increase in the income generated from the sale of RIRDC research publications (from about $100 000 in 1996–97 to $200 000 in 1997–98) was predominantly attributable to the release and subsequent popularity of two major RIRDC publications — The Australian Farmers Guide to the Internet and The New Rural Industries: A Handbook for Farmers and Investors.
A key aim of the R&D program is to ensure that portfolio-related industries are supported by people with high-quality scientific, technical and leadership skills. In 1997–98 the programs also continued to support conferences and field days aimed at providing the platform for transferring information and commercialising R&D outcomes.
The Formal Postgraduate Education Program of the Corporation seeks to ensure the industries have a continuous supply of well-trained people. In 1997–98 the Corporation spent $283 464 on this area, $184 214 for continuing scholarships and $99 250 for new scholarships.
Scholarships awarded in 1997–98
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| Ron Newman | Chicken Meat | Manipulation of lean tissue deposition by altering the sensitivity of tissues to the metabolic hormones | University of Sydney |
| Andreas Kocher | Chicken Meat | Increasing the nutritive value of grain legumes for poultry by use of more efficacious enzyme systems | University of New England |
| Matthew Rudd | Chicken Meat; Egg Industry | Identification of virulence determinants of infectious bursal disease virus (IBDV) | CSIRO Animal Health |
| David Witcombe | Chicken Meat, Egg Industry | Production and characterisation of recombinant antigens of Eimeria and their potential use in a maternally-delivered vaccine against poultry coccidiosis | University of Technology, Sydney |
| Greg Underwood | Chicken Meat; Egg Industry | Tropism and transport of Marek's disease virus during the initial phase of infection | Institute for Animal Health, Compton, UK |
| Wei Leng (Belinda) Chung |
Egg Industry |
Defined probiotic preparations for competitive exclusion of enteropathogens from poultry | University of New South Wales |
| Gemma Graham | New Animal Products | The role of leptin in seasonal weight loss and puberty in the emu | University of Western Australia |
| Louise Silvers | Resilient Agricultural Systems | To examine the biological basis of host specificity of myxomia virus strains from North and South America and from Australia in different leporid species at both the cellular and molecular level | Australian National University |
| Anne Morgan | Wildflowers & Native Plants | Development of Acacia baileyana and A. baileyana Purpurea for cut-foliage and cut-flowers | University of Adelaide |
Ongoing scholarships
Since 1985, 46 scholarships have been awarded by RIRDC (and its predecessor
ASRRC). The Corporation is currently sponsoring 9 ongoing post-graduate
scholarships and junior research fellowships.
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| Anne-Marie Wilson | Agroforestry and Farm Forestry | To identify the characteristics of revegetation on farms which maximise conservation value by sampling a variety of agroforestry plantings | Australian National University |
| Erica Shedley | Agroforestry and Farm Forestry | A study of the relationship between parrot damage in Eucalyptus globulus growing on farmland and the level of nitrogen supply, considering site characteristics and seasonal variations | University of Western Australia |
| Lisa Alleva | Chicken Meat | Intestinal cytokine responses to Eimeria infection | Australian National University |
| Alison Leary | Egg Industry | The effect of relocation stress on eggshell quality and egg size manipulation | University of New England |
| Robert Taylor | Egg Industry | Providing further information about the capacity of the laying hen to regulate the intake of particular calcium and the fate of these particles in the digestive tract | University of New England |
| Kate Lawrence | Resilient Agricultural Systems | Analysis of systems and processes of consultation and decision making in regard to vocational education and training (VET) in Australia for the rural sector | University of Adelaide |
| David Pearson | Resilient Agricultural Systems | Brokering a new reality in sustainable food production – the necessity for marketer mandated information in the organic food industry | University of New England |
| Nerida Donovan | Resilient Agricultural Systems | Breakdown of mancozeb and related fungicides in horticultural produce | University of Sydney |
| Brian Jones | Wildflowers and Native Plants | Isolate molecular factors responsible for conferring the ethylene response and to transforming fruit and cut flowers to control their expression | University of New England |
The Corporation also spent $131 250 in 1997–98 on strengthening the
long term leadership capacities of industry. Five scholarships to the Australian
Rural Leadership Foundation were funded during 1997–98.
| Name | Sub-program
Industry or Organisation |
| Robert Downie | 2.2: Agroforestry |
| Phillip Szepe | 3.2: Egg Industry |
| Peter Draper | 3.4: Rice |
| Daniel Hogan | 3.4: Rice |
| Lynda Pollock | 4.2: Landcare |
External consultants were engaged by the Corporation to help it meet its work program as set out in its Annual Operational Plan 1997–98. These consultants were engaged, in particular, when there was:
During 1997–98, the Corporation engaged consultants for a total cost of $117 007. Of these consultancies, approximately:
