Prospects For New Agricultural Technology Across Northern Australia
Tracks
Auditorium
| Tuesday, August 27, 2024 |
| 2:20 PM - 2:40 PM |
Overview
Prof Phil Brown, CQ University
Speaker
Prof Phil Brown
Director, Institute For Future Farming Systems
CQUniversity
Prospects for new agricultural technology across northern Australia
Abstract
Agriculture is entering a period of transformation, the so-called Agriculture 4.0 or fourth agricultural revolution, with digital technologies and automation delivering new agtech products and services to improve productivity, profitability and sustainability of farming systems. Northern Australia is in a strong position to capture the benefits of agtech as new agricultural developments can incorporate the technologies at establishment stage rather than retrofitting technologies into existing systems. Research on farming system design that incorporate emerging agtech is being undertaken in the the CRC NA Water Security for Northern Australia project to provide growers/investors with strategies for developing Agriculture 4.0 systems.
A clear case for adoption of AgTech products and services at a regional scale is most likely to be present if the technology addresses an issue of concern to a significant proportion of growers in the region. Identification of industry needs is therefore an essential element in designing a ‘market pull’ strategy to support increased uptake of AgTech. Through grower surveys, common issues identified were: 1) issues related to workforce recruitment, retention and management, 2) lack of time available to devote to activities both essential to the farming operation and viewed as most rewarding, 3) work required to meet regulatory requirements, 4) financial insecurity, and 5) managing the array of variables to maintain optimal production.
A review of commercially available technologies identified products that address one or more of these areas. Case studies are being developed to highlight the challenges in successfully adopting agtech in production systems in northern Australia.
A clear case for adoption of AgTech products and services at a regional scale is most likely to be present if the technology addresses an issue of concern to a significant proportion of growers in the region. Identification of industry needs is therefore an essential element in designing a ‘market pull’ strategy to support increased uptake of AgTech. Through grower surveys, common issues identified were: 1) issues related to workforce recruitment, retention and management, 2) lack of time available to devote to activities both essential to the farming operation and viewed as most rewarding, 3) work required to meet regulatory requirements, 4) financial insecurity, and 5) managing the array of variables to maintain optimal production.
A review of commercially available technologies identified products that address one or more of these areas. Case studies are being developed to highlight the challenges in successfully adopting agtech in production systems in northern Australia.
Biography
Phil Brown is Professor of Horticultural Science and Director of the Institute for Future Farming Systems at CQUniversity.
Phil has spent his 25 year academic career delivering new knowledge and better production practices for the horticultural industry in Australia and in neighboring Pacific Island countries. The common theme to Phil’s work has been to develop improved horticultural industry agronomic and post-harvest practices based on sound scientific knowledge. His recent focus has been on application of emerging agtech tools in agriculture, and the integration of technologies into production systems.
