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Government Priorities for R&D
In August 1994, the Minister for Primary Industries and Energy wrote to the Corporation to clarify the Governments priorities for R&D and requested that the Corporation report specifically on how these priorities were being addressed in future Annual Reports. These five priorities and RIRDC's response are:
1.Enhancing the competitiveness and resilience of industries
The Corporation has made a significant investment in Australia's rural industries to enhance their international competitiveness. The rice program, for example, has provided the Australian rice industry with new rice cultivars that better match the needs of overseas markets in terms of fragrance and flavour and that mature earlier and hence are more ecologically sustainable in terms of water use. Parallel to these outcomes are major advances in NIR/NIT-based analytical technologies that enable grain quality to be described and measured objectively and hence payments on delivery by growers to be better matched to the quality desired by critical markets.
The Australian wildflower and foliage industry has potential to double in value to $75m by 2000 if it can provide new and improved cut flowers and foliage to meet the market demand for variety and novelty and improved quality. RIRDC is meeting this challenge by a strong thrust towards developing species and forms of wildflower, both fresh and dried, not yet exported by competitors such as Israel and by supporting industry driven quality management projects, including the development of Australian Standards for major wildflower lines.
2.Developing significant processing capacity
The Corporation seeks to strengthen Australia's capacity to add-value by processing through several of its programs. The Asian Foods program, for example, supports R&D on the pickling, drying and packaging of Asian vegetables; the processing of grains and legumes into tempeh-based snack foods; the conversion of prawn waste into Asian foods; and the production of soup-extracts from beef-bones and other bone by-products.
The Essential Oils program is supporting an extraction and processing project aimed at converting $1 million dollars worth of waste Tasmanian onions each year into onion oil and cattle food-stock worth more than $2 million a year.
RIRDC's coffee research in Queensland has led to the development of a continuous-flow, in-line coffee processing system. Austoft Pty. Ltd., who also market the Corporation-funded coffee harvester, have sought commercial rights on the system.
Renewed interest in goat fibres has led to RIRDC support for projects concerned with an improved processing system for rare natural fibres and with relating fibre specification to processing performance and fabric properties of mohair.
3.Developing industries oriented towards the demands of the marketplace, particularly the Asian-Pacific markets
Recognising and understanding market needs and dynamics is an important component of many RIRDC programs such as Asian Foods, Wildflowers and Rare Natural Fibres. It is a particular focus of RIRDC's Agribusiness program. Together with other RDCs, the Corporation is initiating projects aimed at improving Australia's understanding of emerging markets in Asia. In addition to its current focus on Indonesia and China, RIRDC will be supporting new studies in India and the Indian Ocean areas. Recent work on supermarket developments in Asia is being expanded to deal with the Asian Food service market.
4.Managing the resource base in an ecologically sustainable manner
The Corporation is specifically addressing sustainability at both the research program and research project levels. For example, level of sustainability is one of the four key criteria used by RIRDC to rank existing and proposed research programs within the Corporation's portfolio and to determine appropriate resource allocations. At the project level, factors such as reduced use of chemicals and lessened impact on biodiversity are taken into account when new research proposals are examined.
RIRDC has developed four key program areas - agroforestry, climate change, pest and disease control and agricultural systems - specifically to address ESD related R&D issues. Priorities include the quantification of the benefits and costs of trees in agriculture; systems of agroforestry for land conversation; identification of potential opportunities arising from increased carbon dioxide levels; potential adaptive rural industry strategies for climate change; evaluation of the sustainability of current farming systems; biological control of invasive weeds; the impact of genetically engineered organisms in pest control and plant improvement; and the development and delivery of integrated pest management (IPM) packages.
In each of these programs RIRDC is taking a lead role with other RDCs through collaborative and jointly funded program arrangements.
5. Focusing on an integrated response to regional issues
The Corporation responds to regional problems both individually and in collaboration with other RDCs and government agencies within most programs. Examples of individual projects include defining new cropping opportunities for given regions through research within the Wildflowers and Native Plants and the Herbs and Spices programs. The Agricultural Systems and Agroforestry and Farm Trees programs are addressing the planning and developing of integrated farming systems in intensively farmed regions of Tasmania and Western Australia; the management of plant protection aspects of the rural/urban interface; and a range of farm-tree and tree-based conservation issues. Such projects involve joint planning, funding and management with a range of RDCs, the Murray Darling Basin Commission, DPIE, and state and local government enterprises.
Proposed Commonwealth Authorities and Companies Legislation
During the year the Corporation responded, on its own account and together with counterpart R&D Corporations, to a proposal for new legislation governing the operation of statutory corporations introduced to the Parliament by the Minister for Finance. While the Minister's aim in introducing the legislation is considered meritorious, it will introduce significant new demands and administrative costs on relatively small statutory bodies such as RIRDC.
The proposed legislation will also introduce significant new personal liabilities and accountability for Corporation Directors and Executive Officers which are not currently reflected in remuneration levels.
The proposed new annual reporting requirements will at least quadruple the size of the Corporation's current annual report and would require the engagement of additional administrative support staff or consultant advisers.
Last updated: 9 August 1996
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