At the 2023 iteration of Future Food Systems (FFS) CRC’s popular Research Showcase, you’ll hear about the tools, technologies and collaborations propelling Australia’s agrifood sector into a more profitable and planet-friendly future.
We’ll be highlighting progress on and key findings from a selection of FFS projects under all three of our research programs, from AI-enabled mapping tools to protected cropping breakthroughs and cutting-edge food science.
FFS Program Leads, Project Leaders and PhDs will present their latest findings, showcasing collaborations that advance smart, sustainable food-system solutions. After each presentation, there will be time for audience questions.
The Research Showcase will cover milestones and outcomes from a selection of FFS projects including urban food planning, upcycling agrifood waste, sustainable fertigation, novel microbiome technologies, data-backed decision-making tools and metabolic phenotyping.
Agenda and speakers
FFS projects and presenters in the spotlight at this year’s Research Showcase include:
- How does urban food planning occur in Australia? FFS PhD scholar Lijun Summerhayes will present her doctoral research at Queensland University of Technology investigating existing food-related policies in Australian urban centres and ascertaining to what extent these address urban food problems.
- Towards a Smart Agribusiness Sector in the Namoi. UNSW’s Prof. Hoon Han will talk about delivering an industry database that geographically mapped grain, beef, lamb and poultry businesses in the Namoi region along with the agri-commodities they produce, along with an AI-enabled multi-criterion decision-making tool to aid in future planning.
- Circular economy framework to manufacture sustainable construction materials. FFS-supported UNSW PhD scholar Natalie Aaron will present her research from this collaborative project with SME EcoMag that’s looking to upcycle industrial and farm waste into eco-friendly plasterboard, thereby helping to shrink the carbon footprint of the construction sector across Australia and, potentially, worldwide.
- Microbial rhizosphere diversity in glasshouse hydroponic crops. University of New England doctoral student and FFS Industry PhD scholar Phil Thomas will present some of the findings of the ‘Tomato rhizobiome’ project’, a four-year collaboration with leading grower Costa Group – truly groundbreaking research that for the first time characterises the microbial colonies in the root zones of hydroponically grown greenhouse tomato plants, furthering our understanding of this increasingly important field.
- Sustainable fertigation for high yield and quality vegetables in protected cropping. Western Sydney University’s Prof. Zhonghua Chen will discuss the ‘Sustainable fertigation’ project he lead. Co-funded by Qatar University, the project team is identifying novel approaches to fertigation, nutrient delivery and crop management that will increase both yield and quality in vegetables grown in PC facilities, in both Australia and Qatar.
- Novel microbiome technologies to increase profitability for Aus horticulture. Murdoch University Assoc. Prof. Kirsty Bayliss leads this multi-year, multi-faceted project in collaboration with Hort Innovation and WA vegetable growers including Mt Lindesay and Melville Park, with support from the Global Crop Microbiome Alliance. Its objective is to develop and deploy new products that increase the yield and thus, the profitability of some of Australia’s most popular annual and perennial horticultural crops.
- Phenolics in Globe Artichokes. FFS Industry PhD and Murdoch University doctoral student Andrew Tilley will talk about the project on which they are collaborating. The ‘Artichokes’ project aims to analyse and validate key chemical signatures of globe artichokes, in particular with respect to health-promoting long-chain inulin, to guide future breeding and commercialisation activities.
You’ll also hear from FFS Chief Executive Officer Dr James Krahe, as well as from UNSW’s Prof. Cordelia Selomulya, our Research & Commercialisation Director; and our research program leadership teams, Prof. Doug Baker, Queensland University of Technology; Dist. Prof. David Tissue, Western Sydney University; and David Doepel, Murdoch University.
Note: The Showcase agenda is yet to be finalised. Check here or on the Eventbrite page for updates.
Further information and registration
The Showcase will take place online, via Zoom, on Thursday 27 July 2023 between 2.00pm and 4.30pm AEST.
Attendance is free of charge; however, pre-registration is required. Once you’ve registered, you’ll be sent an invitation via email that includes the Zoom link.
For more details, and to register for the Showcase via Eventbrite, click here.