The pressure on Australian graingrowers to be at the leading edge of new production technologies has never been greater, says the chairman of the Grains Research and Development Corporation, Mr Terry Enright.

Mr Enright, a grower from Western Australia, told this year’s ABARE Outlook conference in Canberra today that the rapidly changing global market is putting enormous pressure on the economics of grain production.

He said this was highlighting the urgent need for new technologies that will not only sustain on-farm productivity, but also create new uses for grains (such as bio-fuels and specialised functional foods) and therefore new markets.

“The harsh reality of Australian rural production generally is you innovate or die,” Mr Enright said. “For growers this means continuing to learn about new management and agronomic practices, and the selective adoption of those compatible with their operations and circumstances.”

Mr Enright praised growers for the way they have both responded to the challenges and strongly supported R&D investment.

He said the continuous decline in terms of trade was being compounded by the emergence of China and India as major producers with export potential, and increasing production capacities in Eastern Europe, Russia and Brazil. “This creates a major R&D challenge to equip Australian producers with the technologies that can enable them to cope, and ideally, keep ahead of changing market dynamics.”

Such technologies include ongoing research into minimising the impact of production constraints such as climate variability and soil deficiencies, as well as the development of more robust cropping systems through lifts in management skills, intensity and diversity of operations and technology adoption across the board.

Mr Enright pointed out that since the GRDC’s establishment in 1990-91, investment in R&D has contributed to an 86 per cent increase in average annual production (to about 43 million tonnes), which has been derived from a 64 per cent increase in area planted (now about 23 million hectares). Over this period, the total factor productivity of grain farms has continued to grow at a very impressive 3.2 per cent per annum. The value of the industry has more than quadrupled from $2 billion to almost $9 billion, while at the same time growers have also overcome numerous environmental and economic challenges.