South Australia’s grain industry will receive a $3 million boost with the announcement of two projects designed to increase export opportunities, drive growth and create jobs.
The Marshall Liberal Government is committing $1.8 million to establish an Value-Added Oats Centre of Excellence, as well as $1.2 million for South Australia to partner in a Pulse Protein Cooperative Research Centre.
The projects are part of an industry-led plan to grow food, wine and agribusiness revenue to $23 billion by 2030.
Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development David Basham said these projects will build on South Australia’s world class reputation for grain breeding and research.
“In recent years South Australia’s grains sector has gone through some challenging times with drought and bushfire and this $3 million investment aims to further position the state as a global leader,” said Minister Basham.
“This provides a strong platform for further investment into South Australia’s oats and pulses industries to drive growth and create jobs.
“South Australia is a major producer of high-quality pulses including lentils, chickpeas, peas and faba beans.
“The average value of South Australian pulse production is over $200 million at the farmgate, with over $330 million worth of international exports.
“About 85 per cent of our grain is exported around the world, including to India, Indonesia and Bangladesh, and there’s an enormous opportunity for South Australia to tap into growing global demand for value-added grain products, particularly in Europe and North America.
“These projects work in nicely with the South Australian Grain Industry Blueprint recently launched which targets total farm gate value of $6 billion by 2030.
“This seed funding provided by the Marshall Liberal Government will support South Australian based research to assist the grains industry to capture value-adding opportunities and reinforce South Australia’s reputation as a leader in the field of research and innovation.
“Through the Value-Added Oats Centre of Excellence, new oat products such as oat rice, savoury oat snacks, and oat milk will diversify food products and increase demand for oat domestically and globally.
“This funding directly supports our Growth State initiative, and our commitment to investing in our export sectors and leveraging South Australia’s competitive advantage.”
