Research Projects

Pollination of novel and emerging food crops grown under protected cropping conditions

P2-030

Pollination of novel and emerging food crops grown under protected cropping conditions

this research project, we will test the potential of 3-4 insect taxa, honeybees (Apis mellifera), stinglees bees (Tetragonula carbonaria) and Eristaline hoverflies (Eristalis tenax and Eristalinus punctulatus) to satisfy the pollination requirements for a range of novel, hi-tech pollinator-dependent crops of interest to Costa Group.

P2-030

Linking stomatal traits with grain quality and heat tolerance in wheat

P2-037

Linking stomatal traits with grain quality and heat tolerance in wheat

The project is identifying heat tolerant genotypes with superior stomatal traits and grain quality that will be useful for advancing academic knowledge for heat tolerance in wheat – one of the most important staple crops.

P2-037

Proximal and remote sensing for water stress, and yield monitoring

P2-032

Proximal and remote sensing for water stress, and yield monitoring

The research uses a unique combination of remote sensing and proximal weather, soil, and tree-based sensors, which can be deployed in open and protected cropping scenarios, to investigate the effects of water stress thresholds on the yield, quality, and health of Australian olive tree crops.

P2-032

Phenotyping for heat tolerance in crops

P2-035

Phenotyping for heat tolerance in crops

Globally, climate change-induced warming is posing a major challenge to increasing crop yields in cropping systems including protected cropping systems. Research to improve heat tolerance in these systems have largely focused on leaf traits, in part due to limitation in techniques for investigating other plant parts.

P2-035

Supporting wild pollinators in protected agriculture

P2-033

Supporting wild pollinators in protected agriculture

Berries are highly pollinator-dependent crops, and while managed pollinators such as honey bees, are effective pollinators, the establishment of the Varroa mite has resulted in fewer honey bee colonies in the region and hence growers have reduced access to pollination services. Wild pollinators are also known to visit berry flowers and established research has now demonstrated their efficiency is often equivalent to the honey bee.

P2-033

Nocturnal warming and crop yield losses

P2-034

Nocturnal warming and crop yield losses

Global increase in night temperature is associated with significant crop yield losses. For vegetables, grains and fibre crops (including tomato, wheat, and cotton), yield reductions can be up to 3–10% per 1°C increase in night temperature. This project investigates how warm nights reduce crop yield and will identify traits that confer tolerance to warm nights.

P2-034

Banana de-handing project

P2-022

Banana de-handing project

Banana de-handing is a core process at all banana processing facilities. It is a repetitive and physically demanding activity that if automated, could improve processing efficiencies and provide a valuable integration point for robotics systems.

P2-022

Characterisation of capsaicinoids

P2-029

Characterisation of capsaicinoids

Food waste is a global issue, as almost one third of food produced is lost before it is consumed (Ishangulyyev et al., 2019). Simultaneously, the resources such as water, energy, land and fuel, used in the food production supply chain are also wasted during this process. When discarded into landfill, both the plant biowaste and food waste impact the environment by the emission of greenhouse gases (Benyam et al., 2018). Fruits and vegetables contribute only 20% to the total food purchased, but they are responsible for half of the food waste (AUSVEG, 2013).

P2-029

Gummy stem blight control

P2-028

Gummy stem blight control

The project aims to test and pilot fast detection procedures with the aim of giving growers a suite of options to test for the presence of the pathogen prior to disease being evident. The project also aims to test a range of commercially available control measures and create management recommendations.

P2-028

Improving warm-zone raspberry cultivation

P2-025

Improving warm-zone raspberry cultivation

This project will test how environmental factors, such as temperature and humidity, impact pollen viability, pollen tube development and stigma receptivity to better understand the factors limiting the pollination success of raspberries.

P2-025

Potential management of Fusarium wilt

P2-024

Potential management of Fusarium wilt

The project aims to explore rhizosphere microbiome engineering to manage Fusarium wilt of tomatoes, and to evaluate changes in the rhizosphere microbiome in response to application of bio-organic products. Firstly, the rhizosphere microbial community associated with healthy and fol-infected tomatoes in Western Australia will be assessed. This will identify core microbial taxa critical to plant health and to provide insights into managing the Fusarium wilt disease by modifying the core taxa. Field trials on the long-term contribution of three commercial bio-organic products will be conducted to assess their impact on tomato crop performance, yield, and the rhizosphere microbiome. The rhizosphere soils from the field trial sites will be used as ‘donor material’ for the microbiome engineering experiment.

P2-024

Optimising CO<sub>2</sub> in PC systems

P2-023

Optimising CO₂ in PC systems

Crop production systems in large controlled environment facilities are traditionally high-input, resource and capital-intensive. Optimising input parameters is a major avenue for increasing yield and quality whilst reducing waste of precious resources. The aim of the project is to define the optimum CO2 levels for tomato production in controlled environments.

P2-023