Agrifutures Australia, formerly the Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation (RIRDC), is an Australian statutory corporation set up by the

Australian Government The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government, is the national government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Like other Westminster-style systems of government, the Australian Government ...

in 1990 to help fund

research and development Research and development (R&D or R+D), known in Europe as research and technological development (RTD), is the set of innovative activities undertaken by corporations or governments in developing new services or products, and improving existi ...

in Australian rural industries.

Origin

The Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation was originally formed as a statutory corporation in July 1990 under the ''Primary Industries and Energy Research and Development Act 1989'' (later renamed the ''Primary Industries Research and Development Act 1989''). It was set up by the

to work with Australian rural industries on the organisation and funding of their research and development needs, in particular for new and emerging industries and for national rural issues.

RDCs

The organisation is one of 15 Rural Research and Development Corporations (RDCs) in Australia, and one of the five that is a statutory corporation, along with

Wine Australia Wine Australia is an Australian Government statutory corporation that promotes and regulates the Australian wine industry. It was created as the Australian Wine and Brandy Corporation (AWBC) in 1981 to replace the Australian Wine Board by the ...

, the

Cotton Research and Development Corporation Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus ''Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor percen ...

, the

Fisheries Research and Development Corporation The Fisheries Research and Development Corporation (FRDC) is a statutory corporation that manages research and development investment by the Australian Government and the Australian fishing and aquaculture commercial, recreational and Indigeno ...

and the Grain Research and Development Corporation (the rest are industry-owned). They are funded largely by the government for the purposes of investing in R&D (research and development), with the aim of improving "

profitability In economics, profit is the difference between the revenue that an economic entity has received from its outputs and the total cost of its inputs. It is equal to total revenue minus total cost, including both explicit and implicit costs. It ...

productivity Productivity is the efficiency of production of goods or services expressed by some measure. Measurements of productivity are often expressed as a ratio of an aggregate output to a single input or an aggregate input used in a production proce ...

competitiveness In economics, competition is a scenario where different economic firmsThis article follows the general economic convention of referring to all actors as firms; examples in include individuals and brands or divisions within the same (legal) firm ...

and long-term

sustainability Specific definitions of sustainability are difficult to agree on and have varied in the literature and over time. The concept of sustainability can be used to guide decisions at the global, national, and individual levels (e.g. sustainable livin ...

of Australia's primary industries".

Function

Agrifuture's focus is

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled peop ...

, aiming to improve and grow the profitability of the sector. Australian rural industries and the Australian Government (through the

Department of Agriculture and Water Resources The Australian Government Department of Agriculture and Water Resources was a government department that existed between 2015 and 2019, which was responsible for developing and implementing policies and programs that contribute to strengthening ...

) are major partner-stakeholders. It works to attract and help train agriculturalists and future rural leaders, engages in research into important issues for the sector, and helps to develop the potential of new industry, such as

camel milk Camel milk has supported nomad and pastoral cultures since the domestication of camels millennia ago. Herders may for periods survive solely on the milk when taking the camels on long distances to graze in desert and arid environments, especially i ...

. In addition, it performs R&D for established industries without their own RDCs, such as the

rice Rice is the seed of the grass species '' Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly '' Oryza glaberrima'' (African rice). The name wild rice is usually used for species of the genera '' Zizania'' and ''Porteresia'', both wild and domestica ...

thoroughbred horse The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed. Thoroughbreds are c ...

, and

tea tree oil Tea tree oil, also known as melaleuca oil, is an essential oil with a fresh camphoraceous odor and a colour that ranges from pale yellow to nearly colourless and clear. It is derived from the leaves of the tea tree, ''Melaleuca alternifolia'' ...

industries. The organisation also hosts the AgriFutures Rural Women's Award to support the role women play in rural and regional businesses, industries and communities.

Funding

Apart from the annual appropriation from the government, funding comes from industry levies and voluntary industry contributions, and government-specific programs, private companies, rural RDCs, state and territory governments and other research providers.

Past research

RIRDC was involved in early work on developing

canola Close-up of canola blooms Canola flower Rapeseed oil is one of the oldest known vegetable oils. There are both edible and industrial forms produced from rapeseed, the seed of several cultivars of the plant family Brassicaceae. Historically, ...

in Australia, which has gone on to become a major crop, and research for the

tropical fruit A tropical fruit one that typically grows in warm climates, or equatorial areas. Tropical fruits Varieties of tropical fruit include: *Acerola ( West Indian Cherry or Barbados Cherry) *Ackee *Banana * Barbadine (granadilla; maracujá-açu i ...

industry saw it expand to more than 400 Australian commercial growers by 2005. RIRDC's research helped improve

yields by 87% per

megalitre The litre (international spelling) or liter (American English spelling) (SI symbols L and l, other symbol used: ℓ) is a metric unit of volume. It is equal to 1 cubic decimetre (dm3), 1000 cubic centimetres (cm3) or 0.001 cubic metre (m3 ...

while reducing water use by 45%. RIRDC's

chicken The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domestication, domesticated junglefowl species, with attributes of wild species such as the grey junglefowl, grey and the Ceylon junglefowl that are originally from Southeastern Asia. Rooster ...

meat research led to a new live MG vaccine which holds 40% of that global market and reduced losses in the industry. It also developed three new oaten

hay Hay is grass, legumes, or other herbaceous plants that have been cut and dried to be stored for use as animal fodder, either for large grazing animals raised as livestock, such as cattle, horses, goats, and sheep, or for smaller domesticate ...

varieties – Wintaroo, Brusher and Kangaroo – which are contributed to an export hay market that grew by 200% over the ten years up to around 2005/6. AgriFutures provided a grant of $405,000 in 2019 to Essential Oil Producers Association of Australia for the development of Australian

essential oils An essential oil is a concentrated hydrophobic liquid containing volatile (easily evaporated at normal temperatures) chemical compounds from plants. Essential oils are also known as volatile oils, ethereal oils, aetheroleum, or simply as the o ...

. On December 2021, AgriFutures Australia created an ''Australian Emerging Tropical Fruits Strategic RD&E Plan'' to identify and promote five tropical fruits with market growth potential; the five fruits were

jackfruit The jackfruit (''Artocarpus heterophyllus''), also known as jack tree, is a species of tree in the fig, mulberry, and breadfruit family ( Moraceae). Its origin is in the region between the Western Ghats of southern India, all of Bangladesh, ...

rambutan Rambutan (; taxonomic name: ''Nephelium lappaceum'') is a medium-sized tropical tree in the family Sapindaceae. The name also refers to the edible fruit produced by this tree. The rambutan is native to Southeast Asia. It is closely related to s ...

durian The durian (, ) is the edible fruit of several tree species belonging to the genus ''Durio''. There are 30 recognised ''Durio'' species, at least nine of which produce edible fruit. '' Durio zibethinus'', native to Borneo and Sumatra, is the o ...

dragon fruit A pitaya () or pitahaya () is the fruit of several different cactus species indigenous to the Americas. Pitaya usually refers to fruit of the genus ''Stenocereus'', while pitahaya or dragon fruit refers to fruit of the genus ''Selenicereus'' ...

and

longan ''Dimocarpus longan'', commonly known as the longan () and dragon's eye, is a tropical tree species that produces edible fruit. It is one of the better-known tropical members of the soapberry family Sapindaceae, to which the lychee and rambu ...

References

External links

* {{Authority control Rural organisations in Australia 1990 establishments in Australia Commonwealth Government agencies of Australia Agricultural organisations based in Australia Funding bodies of Australia Research in Australia