The Australian Government is expanding the Southern Qld and Northern NSW Drought Resilience Adoption and Innovation Hub to catalyse agricultural innovation, drive commercialisation and create jobs.
Federal Member for New England and Deputy Prime Minister, Barnaby Joyce said the Southern Qld and Northern NSW Hub and nodes will become a flagship for agricultural innovation.
“The Hub supports farmers and communities from Longreach to Roma, Stanthorpe, Lismore, Narrabri and the University of New England hosts a dedicated node in Armidale to service Northern NSW”.
“The hub will engage with farmers and traditional owners to empower them to adopt innovative practices that will make real impacts on the ground and to their businesses.”
“The hub already has extensive collaborators including farming and NRM groups, industry organisations, universities, state government, research providers and Agribusiness,” Minister Joyce said.
Minister for Agriculture and Northern Australia David Littleproud said the Government has allocated additional funding for each Hub to develop regionally focused and responsive innovation and adoption strategies and to undertake activities.
“This investment is the next phase in the evolution of the Drought Hubs from being just drought focused to being focused on Innovation more broadly,” Minister Littleproud said.
The Toowoomba based hub—led by the University of Southern Queensland —is one of eight established across the country in April this year through the government’s $5 billion Future Drought Fund.
“These hubs are key to unlocking the potential of the agricultural innovation system, enabling people to collaborate and deliver regionally targeted productivity gains.
“The hubs will build connections between researchers, technology developers, investors, producers and agribusinesses to drive innovation and digital technology uptake across industry and the supply-chain.
“The hubs will always be a shopfront for farmers to access innovative technologies and practices that enable them to be more prepared and resilient to drought.
“Now, as part of the National Agricultural Innovation Agenda, we are expanding their remit into broader agricultural innovation activities and outcomes.”
“We are providing the right conditions to help agricultural sector to modernise, improve, innovate and grow,” Minister Littleproud said.
For more details visit Southern QLD/Northern NSW Drought Resilience Adoption and Innovation Hub – Department of Agriculture