OPINION – Owen Williams, Hub Manager
In the next 30 years, the world’s population is predicted to increase from the current 8 billion to 9.7 billion. That’s an extra 2 billion mouths to feed. Our rapidly growing world population, together with a changing climate, means plant health has never been more important.
It’s crucial we have healthy plants that can grow and produce strong yields and healthy pastures in the face of pest and environmental challenges. At the same time, ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) is becoming increasingly important in agriculture amid predictions more funding will be available for businesses that meet global ESG standards.
To ensure we have a sustainable and profitable agricultural industry that helps ensure global food security, it’s important we are utilising the latest technologies to deliver healthy crops for humans and pastures for livestock to eat. It’s a pressing challenge too, with plant pests and diseases causing food crop losses of up to 40%, according to recent estimates from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Ensuring a healthy supply of plant food for our livestock is also important for our own food supply.
That’s why the Agtech and Logistics Hub has launched an open innovation initiative specifically focused on plant health. Delivered in conjunction with Meat & Livestock Australia (MLA), the program will see a collaborative group of corporations and scaleups working together, alongside leading minds from academia, industry, research and government, to discover farmer relevant, innovative agtech, biological and non-synthetic solutions that have the potential to transform crop and pasture management. This includes the measurement and management of plant establishment, pests, nutrition, utilisation by livestock and grazing management and their impacts on soil, water, and the natural capital resources. Solutions should enable increased productivity, profitability and enhanced sustainability while supporting the industry to grow with the evolving expectations of customers. Their end goal will be to prevent crop loss and improve yields, improve pastures, reduce environmental impact, improve sustainability and meet ESG principles. Importantly, their solutions must also deliver an ROI (return on investment) for Australian farmers.
We are putting the callout to scale-ups and innovation companies across the globe to participate in this program. We are searching far and wide so we can unearth market-ready solutions that can be commercialised relatively quickly. Successful program applicants will have the opportunity to present their solutions to industry at a Demo Day on 23 November.
It truly is a great opportunity for innovators, and we can’t wait to see what they bring to the table. Find out more about the program here.