Using robotics to surmount labour challenges in commercial horticultureFrom mobile platforms to deliver automated crop-tending services to banana de-handing robots, QUT's Dr Chris Lehnert is helping cut labour costs to Australia’s indoor cropping sector.
Highlighting the Central Coast’s dynamic food, beverage and manufacturing sceneIn July. Future Food Systems staff, research leads and PhDs represented FFS, our projects and our mission at conferences and agrifood events nationwide.
Meet Romina Rader: insect pollinator expert UNE Professor Romina Rader’s focus is on plant–animal interactions in natural and human-modified environments - in particular, the role pollinators play in horticultural cropping.
Nurturing growth: Dr James Krahe’s vision for thriving agrifood clustersFuture Food Systems CEO James Krahe, a cluster establishment expert formerly with FIAL, gives his top tips into what clusters should strive for and avoid if they're to succeed long-term.
Future foods facility to fast-track new product development in WAMurdoch University is the first Western Australian university to partner with the state government in a new commercial food factory that will help food and beverage businesses develop value-added food products for local consumption and global export. The Sustainable Innovative Food Technologies (SIFT) Centre – the result of a WA Government partnership with Future Food…
FFS PhD student finds cost-effective hands-free way to estimate plant height in protected cropping facilitiesNamal Jayasuriya’s research at Western Sydney University using machine vision to estimate crop-height, a proxy for vegetative growth, has been published in Computers and Electronics in Agriculture.
For Food’s Sake Summit tours: SIFT opening and Melville Park farmGuests who joined our recent day tours of the new SIFT facility at FIPWA and Melville Park farm glimpsed the collaborative future of food innovation and value-adding in WA
PhD student pitches impress FFS Shark TankFive Future Food Systems-backed PhD students pitched their research to a 'Shark Tank'-style panel of experts at the annual Networking Night. Which was the most convincing?
Angus Dingley, PhD student: Improving warm-zone raspberry cultivationUNE's Angus Dingley is exploring how temperature extremes affect pollination in polytunnels to help growers produce more and better berries.
Gareema Pandey: Optimising nutritional content in polytunnel-grown blueberriesAs CRC Industry PhD student attached to the 'Blueberry nutritional optimisation' project, Gareema Pandey is working with crop scientists and sustainability experts at Western Sydney University and NSW Department of Primary Industries to improve the nutritional profile of blueberries grown undercover.
China welcomes Future Food Systems’ ‘Future farming’ Program LeadDistinguished Professor David Tissue’s recent trip included visits to former students and leading research institutions, a gigantic flux tower tour and some memorable dinners.
LLEAF takes its sunlight-shifting, growth-enhancing films globalSydney-based SME LLEAF has secured a global distributor for its innovative light-spectra-shifting agricultural film, shown to boost crop yields by up to 20%.
Fiona Simson departs NFF to represent Aussie farmers on global stageThe National Farmers’ Federation’s first female President stepped down on 25 October to take on a global advocacy role as a Director of the World Farmers’ Organisation.
Claudia Vacca, PhD student: Boosting resilience in Broccolini™Western Sydney University PhD student Claudia Vacca has spent their career studying plant pathogens, from trees to potatoes, developing new ways for early detection and intervention.
Future Food Systems represented at events around the worldIn July. Future Food Systems staff, research leads and PhDs represented FFS, our projects and our mission at conferences and agrifood events nationwide.
‘Living Lab’ to drive value-adding innovation in Coffs Harbour’s agrifood sectorA new Future Food Systems project will establish Australia’s first food-focused ‘Living Lab’ to foster creative collaboration among stakeholders in Coffs’ agrifood ecosystem, including co-designing the concept for a dedicated food innovation and logistics precinct for the region.
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.
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.
Sumitra Saha, PhD student: Exploring heat-resistant potato microbiomes for sustainable potato production in a changing climateA grades in high-school science turned into a career path for Sumitra Saha, who recently joined Murdoch University as a PhD student on the'Novel microbiome technology' project team.
Future of food: what’s on the menu in 2050From insects to cultured meat, nothing is off the table when it comes to feeding the world’s growing population, says UNSW professor Johannes le Coutre.
