Ag Industry, Research

La Trobe research facilities opened

New multi-million dollar facilities at Melbourne’s La Trobe University will be used to expand agriculture and food security research

Victorian researchers now have access to new glasshouses at La Trobe University, which are planned to accelerate the development of new food security solutions.

The facilities at La Trobe’s Agribio research centre in Bundoora – which officially opened last month – will be used to optimise management and breeding of crops, boost early disease detection and use data to improve yield, quality and plant health.

The greenhouses will also support research scientists to develop medicinal agriculture innovations, drought resistant plants and crops that need fewer pesticides and will use a high-tech visual apparatus to detect and link plants’ physical characteristics with genes.

It is anticipated these technologies will allow breeders to more quickly identify the traits needed to increase yield and quality, with these benefits flowing on to the agricultural sector.

La Trobe received $10 million under the Victorian Government’s Victorian Higher Education State Investment Fund (VHESIF) to increase its agricultural and food research capacity.

This has allowed for the refurbishment and expansion of glasshouses with new growth facilities and controlled environment pods, along with infrastructure for research equipment including an imaging mass spectrometer.

La Trobe vice-chancellor John Dewar says the investment will enhance the university’s food and agriculture research capability at a time when food security is becoming more important.

“This investment by the Victorian government will support the important work La Trobe’s researchers are doing to improve food security not just in Australia, but globally,” he says.

“Our AgriBio facility conducts world-class bioscience research aimed at improving productivity and sustainability, fighting disease, reducing environmental impacts and supporting agricultural education.”

The facility will ultimately support farmers across a range of horticultural and medicinal crops, La Trobe says, with one example of the glasshouse’s use to be in studying optimisation of tomato plants to help deliver better quality and higher yielding crops.

The glasshouse facility contains compartments which are equipped with the latest imaging systems and mounted on the largest XYZ system in the Asia-Pacific region, La Trobe adds.

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