Scoping the Sunshine Coast agrifood ecosystemSunshine Coast cluster FAN is teaming with experts at QUT to ascertain what local agribusinesses need and how they can team up to reduce costs.
Meet Elnaz Irannezhad: freight transport and logistics expertThriving in the male-dominated fields of freight and logistics is no easy feat. But Dr Elli Irannezhad is no ordinary woman.
Hort Innovation explores tech-enabled solutions to berry-sector labour woesHort Innovation consulted berry growers Australia-wide to identify viable, cost-effective technology to address one of the sector’s greatest challenges: harvesting labour.
Foundations laid for manufacturing CE construction materialsA UNSW-EcoMag project team is exploring cost-effective ways to turn agricultural and industrial waste into low-carbon plasterboard and cladding.
FFS PhDs tour National Vegetable Protected Cropping CentreOn 14 June, FFS staff and PhDs visited Western Sydney University Hawkesbury campus and the $7m National Vegetable Protected Cropping Centre.
A fresh R&D agenda for crops grown under coverA new, stakeholder-set R&D strategy aims to address industry challenges and support smart, sustainable growth in Australia’s protected cropping sector.
Kesewa Opoku Agyemang, PhD student: Modelling agrifood supply chainsFFS PhD scholar Agyemang is modelliing freight data along the agrifood supply chain to boost efficiency and reduce waste on the path from farm to fork.
Sonali Koundal, PhD student: Finding sustainable ways to fertigate glasshouse-grown veggie cropsFFSCRC Industry PhD student and Western Sydney University student Sonali Koundal is exploring sustainable ways to fertigate glasshouse-grown vegetable crops for the benefit of growers and the environment.
$3.5m project to trial prototype glasshouse films on climbing cropsA $3.5m FFSCRC project with Hort Innovation and LLEAF is trialling two greenhouse-film prototypes that have the potential to boost crop productivity, slash input costs and shrink the environmental footprint of Australia’s PC horticulture sector.
Smart glass-LLEAF project wrap-up: key findings and next stepsIn the recently completed 'Smart Glass' project, scientists at Western Sydney University showed the energy-saving ability of SG ULR-80 and the yield-increasing potential of LLEAF. Next steps? To combine the strengths of both.
International research collaboration to develop sustainable indoor-cropping solutions CRC supporting partner Qatar University is drawing on the expertise and state-of-the-art greenhouse facilities at Western Sydney University to help it develop sustainable fertigation solutions for indoor growers.
Eranda Namal Jayasuriya, PhD student: Imaging analysis for IoT sensor networksSri-Lanka-born, Western Sydney University-based Eranda Namal Jayasuriya is one of two PhD students attached to the CRC’s 'IoT for indoor cropping' project.
CRC report makes cover of Crops journalWestern Sydney University post-doc researcher Sachin Chavan's CRC report 'Protected cropping: Current technologies and target crops' is the cover feature for the June 2022 issue of peer-reviewed journal Crops.
Terry Lin: Investigating warm-climate greenhouse tech in Australian facilitiesSupervised by Prof. Zhonghua Chen, CRC PhD student Terry Lin is assessing the long-term performance of various cooling technologies and greenhouse set-ups at WSU's high-tech glasshouse facility.
CRC indoor-cropping projects feature on ABC LandlineWestern Sydney University scientists are trialling LLEAF P/L's new ‘light-spectra-shifting’ agricultural films on horticultural crops in a trio of CRC projects that are the focus of a recent ABC Landline segment.
Protected Cropping Australia Conference: wet but well attendedRelentless rain did little to dampen the spirits of the estimated 450 delegates, 40 virtual attendees, 60 exhibitors and large CRC-cohort contingent at this year’s PCA conference in Coffs Harbour.
Eastern state governments greenlight ‘hydrogen highway’ initiative for heavy freightThe governments of Australia’s eastern-seaboard states have co-signed an MoU to develop hydrogen refuelling infrastructure for heavy trucking on major highways linking Victoria, NSW and Queensland.
Energy-efficiency funding still available for F&B firms under the EEC ProgramAustralian food and beverage manufacturers: apply by 18 February 2022 for grants of up to $25,000 to boost energy-efficiency and adopt new energy technologies under the latest round of the federal government’s Energy Efficient Communities program.
Federal government pledges $19.1m to help F&B manufacturers go greenerGrants of up to $25,000 are available to assist food and beverage manufacturing SMEs in improving their energy-efficiency under the latest round of the Australian Government’s Energy Efficient Communities program.
Sanitarium teams with UNSW scientists to optimise grain-drying operationIn a project starting mid-February 2022, UNSW scientists will work with Sanitarium to develop protocols for optimising the firm's Weet-Bix grain-drying process.
