In the past year, industry and the Australian Government have invested $454 million in research and development (R&D) through research and development corporations (RDCs), with the Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC) accounting for about $112 million.

So, while a lot of money goes into rural R&D, what exactly do graingrowers get out of it?

Innovating Rural Australia, the annual report on Australia¹s 14 RDCs, shows specific R&D programs are creating direct economic benefits.

Adoption of innovation and technology that RDCs foster and encourage has surely played a role in Australia¹s ability to maintain its position in world markets, despite recently enduring the worst drought on record.

While the drought saw the 2002-03 national harvest drop from about 44 million tonnes the year before to about 18 million tonnes, yields were still greatly improved on the 14 million tonnes harvested in the less severe drought of 1982-83.

Improved productivity and risk management, coming largely from targeted R&D projects, could take some of the credit.

R&D has seen growers adopt better planning and farming systems and practices, such as minimum tillage and improved rotations, which contribute to relatively better performance.

Major genetic advances have also seen yields improve and given growers greater choice of varieties that are more able to withstand adverse seasonal conditions.

Breeding for improved water use efficiency and stress tolerance, for example, allows crops to make better use of available water over the growing season.

So, while the worst ever drought caused major falls in farm production, exports and incomes, the grains industry¹s performance was relatively firm compared with what happened in previous drought periods.

Growers are also proving increasingly receptive to R&D developments, such as controlled traffic farming and adopting lucerne crops as an option for salinity prevention.

Portfolio evaluations and stakeholder surveys conducted by the GRDC have given it an overall benefit-cost ratio of 6.6.

After accounting for benefits flowing off-farm, to off-farm industry and consumers, the benefit-cost ratio rises to 7.8, which is a net value of about $3 billion going to the wider community through grains R&D.

Survey (2002-2003) results confirm the benefits R&D brings growers, with 63 per cent of growers surveyed attributing their increased profitability in the past five years to GRDC activities, while 34 per cent changed crop production practices in the past two years as a result of GRDC work.

Innovating Rural Australia highlights what the GRDC has been involved in and, more importantly, what has been achieved for graingrowers.