Six PhD students have been chosen to help with research as part of the Victorian Grains Innovation Partnership (VGIP) between Agriculture Victoria and the Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC).
The partnership aims to improve the enduring profitability of Victorian and Australian grain growers through world-class research and innovation.
All regionally based, the six PhD students are completing their fellowships at Grains Innovation Park in Horsham with support and mentorship from scientists at Agriculture Victoria and Melbourne University. The PhD research fellowships are part of the Centre for Agricultural Innovation (CAI), a joint initiative between Agriculture Victoria and The University of Melbourne.
Agriculture Victoria Research Director and Grains Innovation Park site leader Traci Griffin said she was excited to be hosting the PhD students whose work will further build the research and innovation capability and capacity for the grains industry.
“These fellowships are key to the development of the future workforce in grains research, and Agriculture Victoria is proud to provide this opportunity and mentorship. The research projects tackle different issues southern grain growers face, and the results will have far-reaching impacts for the sector.”
GRDC interim Managing Director Cathie Warburton said the Australian grains industry needed people with specialist skills to progress research and innovation to ensure the sector’s ongoing success and viability.
“GRDC is committed to supporting and encouraging students through initiatives such as this one, as part of our strategy to build research capacity and capability,” she said.
“Our partnership with VGIP helps ensure some of our most innovative and talented PhD students have the opportunity to be involved in projects that will have an impact at a paddock level as well as on a national and global scale.”
The successful six PhD students will be working on areas of Profitable Pulse Crops and Bridging the Profitability Gap.
- Sachesh Silwal is evaluating the agronomic suitability of mungbean to farming systems within southern Australia by defining the phenology, water and nitrogen dynamics of this alternative crop across a range of growing environments within Victoria. Sachesh is also assessing the opportunity for improved adaptation through genetic screening.
- Spencer Fan is undertaking an environmental analysis of potential effectiveness of different root ideotypes for different soil types for southern Australia environments using both historical and future predicted climate records.
- Bhawana Bhattarai is investigating the effects of storage strategies on grain quality to identify best storage practices and enable grain growers to better maintain grain quality and value prior to sale. Key grain characteristics, including colour, appearance, seed damage and integrity are influenced by on-farm storage conditions.
- Keshia Savage is examining the relationship between soil physicochemical properties and the response of grain crops to different management interventions on a 3D spatial scale. Keshia’s research project involves controlled environment and field research and will use a range of soil and crop sensing technologies.
- Amit Adhakari is developing and assessing the potential of new management strategies designed to improve the capture and utilisation of rainfall by grain crops in future climates. Amit’s research involves laboratory, glasshouse, field and computer simulation studies.
- Danielle Yidan Tang is investigating the use of sensor technologies to determine grain quality prior to harvest. Grain quality is a major determinant of on-farm profitability and can vary spatially across farms. With the increasing availability of sensor technologies there is an opportunity to segregate grain for targeted quality traits at, or following, harvest to maximise crop value.
