The Australian Government has released its National Agricultural Innovation Policy Statement as part of the National Agricultural Innovation Agenda.
Minister for Agriculture and Northern Australia David Littleproud said the statement is another step in the journey of modernising our research and development system.
“The Australian Government has committed $147 million to agricultural innovation since July 2020, including through the Future Drought Fund.
“This is in addition to over $300 million in Australian Government payments that match eligible expenditure by the rural Research and Development Corporations (RDCs) with almost $350 million from levied commodities in the 2020-21 year.
“I am working closely with industry organisations and the 15 RDCs to increase the RDCs accountability around stakeholder transparency, removing duplication and driving commercialisation. This is to ensure value is provided to the levy payer and the taxpayer.
“Agricultural Innovation Australia has also been established by the RDCs to tackle large cross-sectoral priority issues affecting the sector and attract private sector investment.
“Led by AgriFutures, the RDCs and the Australian Government have also joined forces to develop GrowAg – a digital platform that will bring commercialisation of research and development to the world. Since April 2021 the platform has already hosted over 2000 research projects and over 40 commercialisation opportunities.
“We have also established physical platforms – $86 million investment to establish 8 Innovation Hubs across Australia, with over forty ‘shopfronts’ across Australia where research outcomes can be extended to farmers and co-design activities can take place.
“In addition, $34.2 has been allocated for innovation grants to support development, extension, adoption and early-stage commercialisation activities to build drought resilience,” Minister Littleproud said.
This statement also establishes four long-term priorities for Australia’s agricultural innovation system to address by 2030.
These priorities are exports, climate resilience, biosecurity and digital agriculture.
“We worked with stakeholders to develop this statement, and we will work with stakeholders to deliver these priorities,” Minister Littleproud said.
“To support delivery of the four new National Agricultural Innovation Priorities, the government is providing an initial investment of $2.8 million through Agriculture Innovation Australia.
“We will provide the right conditions and help the agricultural sector to modernise, improve, innovate and grow.”
Innovation and Research is one of the 7 themes in Delivering Ag2030 which lays the foundations for the Australia Government to help the sector achieve its target of $100 billion by 2030.
