With 52 staff and many of the country’s top scientists, Australia’s Grains and Research Development Corporation is serious about its mission. Nor is it alone.
With an annual budget approaching C$100 million, the research giant believes that farmers, the government, and in fact the entire country are serious about that mission too.
Simply put, that mission is to do more research — and better research — than anyone else in the world in order to ensure Australian grain growers are winners in the global marketplace.
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The way it does that is unmatched by any of its competitors.
In the last year alone the GRDC’s achievements include the release of more than 40 crop varieties. It has also unveiled breakthroughs that will protect Australian crops against diseases and pests, together with more agronomic studies to help the country’s farmers produce bigger crops at lower costs.
Above and beyond field research, the GRDA drafted a farseeing national climate change research strategy for primary industries, helping put Australia at the head of the pack of countries trying to figure out how to maintain farm productivity and profitability under global warming.
Peter Reading, GRDC’s managing director, knows he’s in charge of something unique.
The GRDC is able to achieve what it does is because it is a national effort that is nationally focused, Reading told Country Guide. “The real strength is the way the model is set up.” GRDC works with universities as well as with the national and state governments to develop a nationally coordinated approach to the way agricultural research and development is done across the 25 different crops that it covers.
Looking right back at you
Other countries are watching, hoping to copy Australia’s success. Reading says he has hosted delegations from Brazil, Argentina, Peru, Chile and China. Some inquisitive Canadians have also popped in for a visit. “They’re all very interested in the model,” he says.
Reading is a gracious host, but when other countries put GRDC under the microscope, his objective is to turn it into a telescope so he can peer into what’s going on in their own research programs, ensuring he always stays a step ahead. The hunted, you might say, becomes the hunter.
Part of the organisation’s modus operandi is keeping a close eye on what is happening around the world. “We benchmark all the time,” says Reading. “We do strategic analyses of what’s happening in the international grains industry.” Currently the GRDC is keeping a close eye on the emerging Black Sea countries and Latin America, says Reading.
But it isn’t all international intrigue. The GRDC has tight working relationships with other international research organisations such as ICARDA in Syria and CIMMYT in Mexico and also with a number of international companies.
“Our key driver there is making sure we have access to the right technologies,” Reading says.
National treasure
Having one national body like the GRDC is all about cooperation. Major priorities must be determined, funds must be invested to achieve them, and there must be a commitment to drive multiyear, multi-disciplinary research through to completion.
“We try and leverage the total investment that’s going on in R&D,” says Reading, “That can come from other government
