A number of agricultural research and farm extension groups across Australia are taking funding cuts this week, despite the growing environmental issues facing Australian producers, according to The Land.
The Australian research group Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) will cut research as it tries to save A$64m over the next four years.
Victoria’s Department of Primary Industries (DPI) is also planning to close five rural sites, including the Kyabram Irrigated Research Institute, and cut 70 jobs. The New South Wales government has also been accused of slowing down agricultural research and extension programmes.
CSIRO’s Food Science Australia division will lose 50 positions, along with eight in wool and sheep research. It will also close its Sydney food transport test plant, its Merbein grape and citrus research laboratory in Victoria, and Australia’s largest livestock research facility in Rockhampton, Queensland.
Simon Ramsay, Victorian Farmers Federation president, said it was a bad time to cut back on agricultural research: “Pressures facing Victorian farmers have never been greater,” he commented. “Drought, climate change, distorted world markets and community pressure to reduce the environmental footprint of feeding Australia all demand significant research and extension efforts.”
