July 5, 2002

A $20 million agreement was signed today that will ensure science and industry combine forces to further protect the future of Australia's grains industry.

In a strategic move, CSIRO Entomology and The Grains Research & Development Corporation (GRDC) have formed a research alliance to pre-empt a potentially devastating range of pests and diseases infesting the grains industry. This will maintain the competitiveness of Australia as a major exporter of high quality grain.

"The focus of the venture is to protect Australian grain by providing the grains industry with more effective, environmentally sensitive, and longer term crop protection options," CSIRO Chief Executive Officer, Dr Geoff Garrett, said.

The collaboration encompasses a significant body of CSIRO expertise and intellectual property that will improve the profitability of the Australian grains industry.

"We'll be taking existing 'know-how' through early-stage research, and converting it to a suite of valuable intellectual property for industry applications and use in the future," Dr Garrett said.

GRDC Managing Director, Professor John Lovett, said: "The agreement demonstrates the willingness of major Australian organisations, such as CSIRO and GRDC, to collaborate in the discovery of strategically important solutions to areas of national interest."

He said the alliance would put Australia at the forefront of world crop protection and provide for key developments with CSIRO Entomology in Perth and Canberra.

Graingrowers and the Federal Government have provided support for the alliance through the GRDC.