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Programs - An Overview of All Projects – Stage 1 by Dr Jenny Gordon and Jane Barnett, Centre for International Economics
December 2005
RIRDC Publication No 05/168
Program funding
The Fodder Crops program
has supported 41 projects with an expenditure of $7.18 million over the
period 1991–92 to 2004–05.
Project classifications
Projects are classified
according to the Department of Agriculture Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF)
classification scheme. This DAFF classification forms the first level of
the classification scheme used by RIRDC in their series of evaluations.
The allocation of funds is given in table 1. The majority of total funds
(68 per cent) are allocated to production - industry competitiveness, the
next biggest category being processing with a large investment in one set
of projects. Very little investment has been done on market identification
or marketing (one old project) as this is left to private investment as
would be expected in a more mature industry.
Stage of R&D
The report also classifies
projects according to the stage of R&D undertaken in the project. Stage
1 represents fundamental or basic research. It may be scientific in nature,
for example exploring the plant physiology, or it can be economic, for
example, looking at the potential returns on an activity before it is pursued.
The distinguishing characteristic is that the outputs are usually inputs
into further R&D or a decision process, rather than leading to a final
outcome. Stage 2 R&D usually aims to deliver a specific output that
can be used in production in some way, including the production of further
research. While often applied, strategic R&D can also be in stage 2.
Stage 3 projects categorises projects at the other end of the research
cycle, and are largely focused on promoting adoption of R&D and development
of the industry. Table 2 summarises the allocation of funds across these
stages by DAFF category. As expected for an established industry the majority
of the investment is in stage 2 R&D. There is however, a substantial
share (22 per cent) invested in stage 1 R&D. This reflects higher levels
of investment in this stage by the R&D organisations.
Initial assessment
As part of the evaluation
the program manager and representatives of the industry committee were
asked to provide an initial assessment of the impacts of the projects undertaken
by the program. The results are summarised in table 3. The majority of
the investment is assessed as having a high or medium impact on the industry.
The benefit-cost evaluations confirm this assessment to a large degree
(see Stage 2 report).
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