The first eight of the research and development projects to be awarded under SRA’s 10th Anniversary Research Fund Call have now been announced.
Additional projects which will be funded by the $32.6 million investment by SRA and Queensland’s Department of Primary Industries (DPI) are currently being finalised and will be announced in the next few weeks. This transformational investment will work to secure the productive, profitable and sustainable future of the sugarcane industry.
The first eight projects are:
- Crop response to nutrient application following mill by-product application to optimise nutrient inputs and manage impacts on CCS (2024014): Refinement of the SIX EASY STEPS recommendations for modifications to nitrogen application rates where mill by-products are banded at rates less than 100 wet/ha available in 2028.
- Long-term soil health trials to assess farming system opportunities and impacts (2024010): Advance knowledge of the impacts of novel residue management practices on soil capital and trash removal on farming sustainability available in 2029.
- Progress towards variable rate N application within block – understanding crop N response (2024/011): Advanced knowledge on variable rate N management within block including refinement of the SIX EASY STEPS recommendations available in 2029
- Are trends in silicon uptake a reason for concern? (2024/018): Advanced knowledge on silicon management for crop performance and refinement of SIX EASY STEPS recommendations to improve production available in 2028.
- Improving Economic Outcomes in Harvesting (2024/016): Harvest Mate Auto will integrate live data from harvester monitoring systems, automate data entry, and generate real-time predictions for optimal harvesting practices for green and burnt cane, including newer machines like dual row harvesters available in 2027.
- Improving the technology readiness level of AI-based weed zonal and spot spraying for sugarcane (2024/012): Development of Sugar Weed Mapper platform that maps weeds from drone pictures and generates spray maps and a spot-and-spray ground system available following commercialisation in 2028.
- Characterising the vector of sugarcane streak mosaic virus: a major biosecurity threat for Australian sugarcane (2024/015): Advanced knowledge on the insect vector associated with Sugarcane Streak Mosaic Virus, management options, and revised biosecurity plans to respond to an incursion available in 2027.
- Sugarcane Sucrose Estimation with Hyperspectral Imaging and Artificial Intelligence (2024017): New plant characterisation method using drone-based hyperspectral imaging and artificial intelligence models to increase the efficiency of predicting stalk sucrose content in SRA’s breeding program available in 2027.
Full details of the projects will be published in the Autumn Edition of Cane Matters, due out in March.
