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Legislative Council - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2013-09-10 Daily Xml
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GRAINS RESEARCH

The Hon. G.A. KANDELAARS (16:20): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Fisheries a question about agriculture.

Leave granted.

The Hon. G.A. KANDELAARS: During show week much focus is directed to the successes in our agricultural sector. This type of success is, I expect, not just a flash in the pan but, rather, the result of dedication and hard work. It is a great joy to see on display the best of the best of our regional produce laid out in the Exhibition Hall. A favourite is the grains, at which South Australia excels. Can the minister advise the chamber how grains research has been secured by the government?

The Hon. G.E. GAGO (Minister for Agriculture, Food and Fisheries, Minister for Forests, Minister for Regional Development, Minister for the Status of Women, Minister for State/Local Government Relations) (16:21): South Australia's proud record in grains production is built on generations of research and applied science. South Australia has the unique advantage of a well-established and, I understand, highly respected organisation which dedicates itself to ensuring that pure and applied science on grains is funded.

The South Australian Grains Industry Trust, more usually known as SAGIT, was established in 1991 and is supported by a voluntary contribution of 30¢ per tonne of grain sold from grain growers, which is dedicated to research and development into the growing, harvesting, storage, processing and marketing of grain in SA and for the dissemination of technical information to the state's grains.

The fund collected is over and above funding from the Grains Research and Development Corporation, so South Australian growers get the benefit of their own inputs and priorities by making this extra contribution. I am advised that South Australia is the only state with such a levy for its own grains research.

Members may recall that following a period of instability in SAFF, I stepped in to ensure that support mechanisms for the SA grains industry was secured. This was done first by the creation of the PIFS, the Primary Industry Funding Scheme (Grain Industry Fund) Regulations, commencing on 1 March 2012, which effectively moved the head of power of the South Australian Farmers Federation Grain Section fund to the Primary Industry Funding Scheme, and, secondly, more recently moved to ensure that SAGIT's future was secured. I then established a second new fund by way of the PIF (Grain Research and Development Fund) Regulations 2013, commencing on 8 August 2013, effectively moving the head of power for the grain research fund South Australian Grain Industry Trust (SAGIT) to the Primary Industry Funding Scheme.

From this valuable Grain Research and Development Fund, I will be making payments to the trustees of the South Australian Grain Industry Trust Fund (SAGITF) to be applied for prescribed purposes defined in Regulation 7, including for grain research and development activities. SAGIT will in turn undertake a call for relevant projects and assess these against research development and extension priorities before deciding to which of these to award funding. I understand that all SAGIT projects leverage resources or funds from research bodies which further enhances the value growers are getting for their levy.

SAGIT, as I said, has a proud record of supporting valuable research, and one such example is the study of epigenetics, which is sometimes called plant memory, to determine what traits are passed on through successive generations of grain. This groundbreaking research, undertaken by SARDI and funded by the South Australian Grain Industry Trust, is built on preliminary research which connects seeds sourced from grain grown in harsh conditions to yield increases of up to 20 per cent, a big improvement.

The project aims to help growers to identify seed that will perform better under stresses, such as terminal drought or soil constraints, such as subsoil salinity or boron toxicity. The aim is to continue to test grains' ability to handle stresses and further widen understanding of how the grain's germplasm adapts to these sorts of growing conditions, passing on beneficial characteristics. By routinely sourcing better adapted seed, greater productively can be obtained without increasing water use, leading obviously to significant yield grains and profit to cereal production, with little additional cost.

This kind of very clever research fits squarely into our government's priority for premium food and wine from a clean environment, aiding our grain industry and grain growers to improve productivity in a sustainable manner, and I congratulate SAGIT and SARDI's Dr Klaus Oldach, Associate Professor Victor Sadras and Rob Wheeler and their teams on this very exciting SAGIT epigenetics project.

For those who want to go down to the Showground and enjoy a premium food and wine experience, there is the premium food and wine trail that I encourage people to go along. There are about 14 different ingredients—fresh fabulous products from South Australia, all grown, produced and made here—often presented by the producers themselves and their family members, and at the end you collect each of your ingredients and there is a recipe in the bag and that can be your dinner for the night. I encourage honourable members to go down and enjoy that, meet the farmers and primary producers firsthand, talk to them about their products and enjoy and celebrate our fabulous premium food and wine.

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