GrowAG, a new online sharing digital platform, will connect Australian agricultural innovation to the rest of the world, creating investment, commercialisation and development opportunities within the sector.
The $2 million government initiative, which is part of an ongoing collaboration between the Department of Agriculture and Australia’s 15 RDCs, aims to drive growth, sustainability and resilience across Australia’s agriculture, forestry and fisheries industries.
“This window is open now for the rest of the world to see the range of agricultural innovations Australia has on offer today and into the future,” Minister for Agriculture, Drought and Emergency Management David Littleproud said.
“Investors, researchers and farmers from Australia and the rest of the world can now easily locate information and opportunities to further deliver innovation back to the farm and the food supply-chain.”
GrowAG will showcase research, technologies and success stories while also delivering ongoing support and value to the Australian farming community.
“Our farmers will be just a few clicks away from learning more about the latest research on how to manage aggressive weeds and understand the known impact of the recent bushfires on disease, pests and beneficial organisms,” Mr Littleproud said.
“Farmers can now see their levy-funded research projects from across our 15 Research and Development Corporations in one location using filters to search across different commodities.
“Companies and investors can also see commercial opportunities from the research and development in areas such as automatic harvesting of mangoes and yield prediction of grapevines.”
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Drawing on the success of evokeAG, which is the largest agrifood tech event in the Asia Pacific, growAG brings together a network of community members who are committed to changing the future of Australian agriculture for the better.
“[GrowAg] also provides an opportunity to inspire young people and bring them back into farming and related services in rural and regional locations,” Mr Littleproud added.
“This is innovation driving innovation in support of industry’s ambitious target of $100 billion in production by 2030.”
The federal government’s plan to grow agriculture to $100 billion by 2030
The growAG initiative is a significant step towards delivering improved commercialisation, extension and adoption outcomes to the agricultural sector in Australia – a key objective of the government’s National Agricultural Innovation Agenda.
In 2018, the National Farmers’ Federation (NFF) announced its plan to build Australian agriculture into a $100-billion industry by 2030. The National Agenda is a key part of how the government is helping the industry achieve this ambition.
The seven priority areas that the Ag2030 will address are water infrastructure, trade and exports, innovation and research, stewardship, strong supply chains, human capital and biosecurity.
Fluctuating international markets, increasing competition, technological disruption, climate and water-related threats, as well as global economic shocks are some of the major risks and opportunities that the Australian agriculture sector currently faces.
In a statement last year, Mr Littleproud said the 2020/21 budget laid the foundations to bring the Ag2030 plan to fruition.
“Government and industry will need to be clear eyed about the task ahead of us, and work harder and smarter and adapt the way we do things.
“I am confident that if government focuses our efforts on these priority areas, we can create the environment needed for industry to reach this ambitious objective.”
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