University News

Institute of Agriculture

Clean green farm will make every raindrop count

Friday, 13 November 2009

The University of Western Australia’s Ridgefield Future Farm will be officially opened next week with the aim of integrating cropping, livestock and native ecology and being carbon neutral by 2020.

The 1,600 hectare property adjacent to the Boyagin Nature Reserve in the Shire of Pingelly will be a best-practice farm for 2050 – the year UWA aims to be counted among the world’s top 50 universities.

A variety of findings for young and old

Wednesday, 11 November 2009

Two new research topics completed by fourth year agricultural science students at The University of Western Australia (UWA) could play a key role in the development and adoption of grain varieties by WA growers.

Both topics come off the back of fourth year research project scholarships funded by Cooperative Bulk Handling (CBH) and, according to UWA Institute of Agriculture Director, Winthrop Professor Kadambot Siddique, they can make immediate impacts on the WA grains industry.

“One reveals that the royalty system used to fund most plant breeding could profoundly affect innovation, while the other shows we’re in danger of prematurely discarding some canola varieties that can still provide good resistance to blackleg disease,” he said.  

Human genome experts to help plant breeders feed the world

Wednesday, 11 November 2009

The University of Western Australia is hosting 80 scientists from 13 countries whose skills will help revolutionise plant breeding – and vital food production.

It is the first time an OECD-sponsored conference has been held in WA.  UWA and the Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC) are the event’s co-sponsors.

UWA masters at aiding Iraq

Wednesday, 21 October 2009

The University of Western Australia (UWA) and its Institute of Agriculture continue to play an important role expanding the capacity of Iraqi agriculture and reducing the country’s dependence on imported food by training Iraq’s brightest and best graduate agriculture students.

Ten graduate students joined UWA early this year to study for their Master of Science degrees in Animal Science, Plant Pathology, Genetics and Breeding and Agricultural and Resource Economics at UWA.

No ordinary Bloecker

Saturday, 5 September 2009

Kununurra born Christian Bloecker expects to return to his family’s 1100 hectare farm in the Ord River Irrigation Area at the end of the year, equipped with a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture and a Bachelor of Economics from The University of Western Australia (UWA).

At 24, he also expects to ‘hit the ground running’ and intends making an impact not only at the family farm level, but also with Stage Two of the Ord River Irrigation Area.

“I see the Ord becoming not just Australia’s food bowl, but South-East Asia’s food bowl and I want to play a role in helping it get there,” Mr Bloecker said.

UWA and Chinese Universities hatch plans for collaboration

Tuesday, 25 August 2009

Thirteen Deans from six agricultural universities around China will be at The University of Western Australia for a three-day workshop on agricultural research and education from tomorrow.

The workshop aims to develop plans for collaborative research in livestock agriculture and pastures; and plant biology and agriculture.

Merino ewes reading the novel ram effect

Thursday, 6 August 2009

Recent research conducted at The University of Western Australia (UWA) School of Animal Biology and Institute of Agriculture (IOA) has shown that when it comes to getting sheep in the mood and those reproductive juices flowing, nothing beats a little novelty.

PhD student Trina Jorre de St Jorre has been examining the ‘ram effect’ on ewes where the sudden introduction of rams has merino ewes ovulating within two to three days.

UWA Institute of Agriculture postgraduates explore new agricultural frontiers

Wednesday, 22 July 2009

Australia’s brightest and best agricultural research was recently on display at the ‘Frontiers in Agriculture Postgraduate Showcase 2009’ at The University of Western Australia (UWA), Institute of Agriculture (IOA).

Introducing the eight postgraduate students from the Agricultural and Resource Economics, Earth and Environment, Animal and Plant Biology schools within UWA’s Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, Chair in Agriculture and IOA Director, Winthrop Professor Kadambot Siddique, described their work as extremely relevant to the future of WA and Australian agriculture and its sustainability.

New centre brings together environment and economics

Tuesday, 7 July 2009

A new centre that recognises the crucial role of research in bringing environmental, economic and social benefits to Australia will be opened tomorrow by The University of Western Australia Professorial Fellow and former WA Premier, Dr Carmen Lawrence.

The Centre for Environmental Economics and Policy, in UWA’s Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, aims to develop and apply models and decision frameworks that push forward the frontiers of environmental policy design, focusing on scientific outcomes within an economic framework.

Its vision is to improve the management of Australia’s environment through research that leads to more appropriate and cost-effective environmental public policy.

Novel alternatives show potential for WA pastures

Wednesday, 1 July 2009

Research conducted by The University of Western Australia (UWA) School of Plant Biology and Institute of Agriculture has demonstrated that several herbaceous legumes may be viable alternatives to lucerne under low phosphorus conditions for West Australian farmers in areas where lucerne performs poorly.

The research compared the growth of 10 native and exotic herbaceous legumes to lucerne growing in glasshouses, supplied with different levels of phosphorus.

The study found that four species, Bituminaria bituminosa, Glycine canescens, Kennedia prostrata, and K. prorepens, grew better than lucerne in low phosphorus conditions and that two species, B. bituminosa and G. canescens, used phosphorus applied to soil more efficiently than other species where low phosphorus was a problem.

Computer model looks at classical swine fever outbreak in feral pigs

Wednesday, 17 June 2009

Headed by Professor George Milne of the School of Computer Science and Software Engineering, researchers at The University of Western Australia (UWA) have concluded that a classical swine fever outbreak, starting in north Queensland, could spread widely through Australia’s 20 million feral pigs, potentially posing a risk to Australia’s domestic pig population.

“Our computer model simulated the effect of wild pigs moving across the landscape and showed how classical swine fever could spread among feral pigs in the right seasonal conditions, becoming endemic and almost impossible to eradicate,” Professor Milne said.

UWA wins $833,000 funding to future-proof table grape industry

Monday, 15 June 2009

Researchers at The University of Western Australia will conduct a $833,000 project aimed at future-proofing the State's $24 million table grape industry.

The research will investigate the impact of climate on the development cycle of table grapes and other temperate crops in WA.  The $583,000 funding from the Australian Research Council's Linkage Project was matched by $250,000 from research partners the Department of Agriculture and Food Western Australia (DAFWA) and the Gascoyne Table Grape Growers Association.

Finding quality time for your sheep

Thursday, 11 June 2009

Finding it hard to juggle your cropping operation with your sheep operation?  Had enough of feeding sheep in the dark during seeding?  The University of Western Australia is working on some solutions.

UWA Masters student Gus Rose has been investigating the problems faced by time-pressed farmers in a project funded by Land and Water Australia.

“As farm sizes increase and labour gets harder to find, many farmers are focusing on cropping as their core business,” Mr Rose said.

UWA agriculture moves from strength to strength

Wednesday, 29 April 2009

A powerful spotlight is shining on the Institute of Agriculture (IOA) at The University of Western Australia (UWA), with a long list of prestigious awards, scholarship grants and healthy student enrolments impressing the scientific community, governments and industry. 

The recent prize windfall for three young UWA IOA students at the Young Professionals in Agriculture Forum, hosted by the Department of Agriculture and Food WA and Australian Institute of Agricultural Science and Technology, underlined why UWA is the university of choice for undergraduates seeking to excel in agricultural and related natural resource management studies. 

Mason builds on UWA Super Brassica research in France

Tuesday, 24 February 2009

Annaliese Mason, agricultural science PhD student at The University of Western Australia (UWA), has been awarded the prestigious 2008 Mike Carroll Travelling Fellowship.

She will spend six weeks in France researching how to combat potential problems of abnormal chromosome associations in Super Brassica plants.

Announcing the winner at a ceremony at UWA’s Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences, Helen Carroll said the Fellowship honoured her deceased husband, former Director General of the WA Department of Agriculture, Dr Mike Carroll.

Agriculture expert lauded in India

Friday, 20 February 2009

Pioneering PhD research at The University of Western Australia not only helped launch a major Australian export industry, it also won the researcher a prestigious award in India recently.

UWA agriculture moving up in the world

Tuesday, 20 January 2009

A series of innovative projects and initiatives have placed the Institute of Agriculture (IOA), The University of Western Australia (UWA), at the forefront of national and international agricultural education and research.

IOA Director, Professor Kadambot Siddique, said plant based food, fibre and industrial raw materials were essential for human survival against the backdrop of escalating input costs and climate change.

Recognising this has led to the development, earlier this year, of  the International Centre for Plant Breeding, Education and Research (ICPBER) at UWA within the Faculty of Natural and Agricultural Sciences

Professor Siddique said the Centre addressed the emerging global need for training first class scientists in genetics, biotechnology and plant breeding.

CBH UWA scholarships an honour for Weetman and Alderman

Wednesday, 10 December 2008

Novel weed management methods are the focus of two recently completed fourth year projects by students at the Institute of Agriculture (IOA), The University of Western Australia.

Professor Kadambot Siddique, IOA's Director, says weeds competing with crops and pastures for sunlight, water and nutrients are a major constraint to agricultural production, costing farmers billions of dollars each year in lost production and management costs.

"With global population forecast to exceed nine billion by 2050, there will be a significant and increasing demand for food without increasing the land area used for agriculture.

A ‘c-change’ for UWA Institute of Agriculture

Wednesday, 26 November 2008

Long term strategies for adapting to climate change will result from a collaborative project between researchers at the Institute of Agriculture (IOA), The University of Western Australia (UWA) and Lanzhou University (LU) in west China.

Professor Kadambot Siddique, IOA’s Director, said the Institute was invited by LU to become a partner in a ‘111 Project’ on sustainable development of agricultural systems in dry and cold ecosystems of the Loess Plateau, Gansu Province, west China.

“The project’s overall objective is capacity building, by training researchers and postgraduate students in characterising dry and cold ecosystems and improving crop and pasture production technologies, land management and animal husbandry practices.

UWA Institute of Agriculture helps deliver Ausaid to Iraq

Tuesday, 7 October 2008

Drought, war and limited access to technological advances have had a significant negative impact on agriculture development and productivity in Iraq.

To help redress the 50 per cent decline in Iraqi major crop production in the past 20 years, 27 Iraqi agricultural scientists are being trained in advanced integrated plant disease management (IPDM) at the Institute of Agriculture (IOA) at The University of Western Australia (UWA).