A groundbreaking $42.7 million national biosecurity initiative led by the Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC) in partnership with five state government departments is set to transform the effectiveness and responsiveness of Australia’s grains biosecurity system.
Announced by GRDC Chair and grain grower John Woods at the Grains Research Updates in Perth today (February 26), the National Grains Diagnostic and Surveillance Initiative (NGDSI) is a co-investment between GRDC and the WA Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (DPIRD), the South Australian Research and Development Institute (SARDI), the Victorian Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action (DEECA), the New South Wales Department of Primary Industries (NSW DPI), and the Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries (QDAF).
The six-year initiative will use state-of-the-art technology and processes to improve Australia’s ability to rapidly detect and accurately diagnose exotic pests and plant diseases – allowing identification to happen ‘near the paddock’ rather than in centralised laboratories.
It will also support the development of more than 20 biosecurity specialists across Australia, modernise current surveillance techniques and utilise global intelligence to forecast future pest and disease risks to the nation’s grains industry.
″This initiative is one of the most important investments GRDC will make on behalf of Australian grain growers and is the result of two years of collaborative work with our partners. It is powerful in the sense it has brought together the nation’s primary grain growing states in a united effort to reduce the very real risk that exotic pests and diseases pose to agriculture,″ Mr Woods says.