St Lucia and Gatton, Queensland, Australia
January 3, 2007

A new School of Land, Crop and Food Sciences based at both the University of Queensland St Lucia and Gatton campuses has begun operations from the start of the New Year.

Professor of Biometry Kaye Basford, who is a distinguished agricultural statistician, will head the new merged school.

Professor Basford was recently honoured with a Fellowship from the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering.

Professor Basford said the School of Land, Crop and Food Sciences would offer Australia's premier courses in these disciplines.

“We'll have staff teaching and researching at both campuses as appropriate,” she said.

“This way we can take advantage of cross-disciplinary strengths at both locations.

“The St Lucia program will focus on biotechnology, genetics and breeding, while the Gatton program will use strengths in agronomy and pasture science to link in with the campus's large animal focus.

“Our food science and nutrition program is offered totally at St Lucia, attracting strong international enrolments.”

Professor Basford said the School's academic direction focused on the soil-water-plant-food continuum, with an emphasis on tropical and sub-tropical systems.

The School's three main research concentrations would be:

• Soil and water science;

• Crop science (agronomy, agricultural biotechnology, genetics and plant breeding, horticulture); and

• Food science.

Professor Basford said soil and water science studies supported Australia's national research priority for an environmentally sustainable Australia.

The School's areas of interest would include the re-use of waste water on land and the effects on soil and on plant growth and nutrition. The University already had considerable strengths in waste water treatment engineering and associated processes in chemistry and microbiology.

In crop science, the production of crops for food, fibre, fodder and bio-fuel production, in a sustainable manner, was crucial to Australia's future. To achieve this, there would be an emphasis on a “new” agronomy; the integration of environmental influences, resource and management inputs, application of emerging technologies to the prediction and recording of crop yield and quality, and adoption of risk assessment and minimisation strategies.

“The ‘new' agronomy integrates crop agronomy, pasture and rangeland agronomy, plant nutrition, crop physiology, crop modelling, crop protection, seed and weed science,” she said.

As a sign of the consolidated plant focus at UQ, Professor Basford said the Executive Deans of two different University faculties would host a cross-faculty plant science workshop on February 7, 2007.

Professor Basford said in food science and technology, there would be more emphasis on natural and functional foods and the link with pre- and post-harvest aspects of crop production in a sustainable system.

Professor Basford said the University had strengths in disciplines associated with agriculture, animals, food and the environment.

The University had demonstrated its confidence in the future of these sectors by investing more than $30 million in enhancing these resources.

This included state-of-the-art laboratories, an equine breeding complex, wind tunnel for spray applications, post-harvest facilities, a modern food-processing plant, and a nursery, greenhouses and tissue-culture facilities.

These facilities were being further bolstered with the planned multi-million dollar relocation of the School of Veterinary Science to Gatton campus and the establishment of a $28.5 million Centre for Advanced Animal Science at UQ Gatton in partnership with Queensland's Department of Primary Industry and Fisheries.