Agriculture
Phosphorus: a finite resource essential for life, critical for agriculture and food security
Strategic use of phosphorus fertilisers can ensure higher crop yields. High yields minimise the amount of land devoted to food production, maximise the use of scarce rainfall and help keep food supplies stable and relatively cheap. Getting the balance right is important in an increasingly crowded world.
A warning for wine lovers: climate change is messing with your favourite tipple’s timing
A plant-growth-regulating spray might be the solution for vineyards affected by heatwaves.
From tracking cattle to tourists
Understanding Australia’s goods and people movement to save costs and target infrastructure investment.
Digging up the dirt on water quality on the Great Barrier Reef
A huge amount of effort is going into protecting the Great Barrier Reef - often the kilometres away from where the coral is actually living. Researchers now have a better understanding of the system of erosion and sediment transport processes connecting agricultural land with water quality in the Reef. Critical to improving land management practices.
Oldman saltbush helps farm profits and ecosystem health
Oldman saltbush is a regular sight for regional tourists, and a CSIRO variety of the native shrub has been found to improve profitability for graziers in Australia’s most marginal regions.
Faster delivery, lower costs? The answer’s in TraNSIT
Taking product from farm to market in Australia can involve distances of hundreds of kilometres and high freight costs. A group of NSW and Queensland councils has turned to computer modelling to work out where local infrastructure bottlenecks are, and how they could be fixed.
Benefits and risks of neonicotinoid insecticides to Australian agriculture
On the farm, the negative impact to beneficial insects can sometimes negate the positive effects of insecticides. But there's a lack of research quantifying non-target impacts of one particular group, neonicotinoids.
Hybridisation and the new frontier against spread of global pests
Global trade means global pests – not just in the way they spread but in the way they breed. Hybridisation of two moth species has now been confirmed, creating a fast-generating, pesticide-resistant mega pest which threatens broad-acre crops across the Americas. What’s next?
How do you measure the environmental footprint of grazing cattle?
Meat consumption has been on the increase with improved standards of living and growing populations around the world. But how do you quantify the environmental cost of feeding the stock feeding that increase?