With over 250 staff on site, CSIRO’s research at the Waite Campus supports Australia’s agricultural, environment (land and water) and mineral resources sectors.
This research was showcased at the annual CSIRO Waite Campus Conference on Thursday 24 August. The half-day event featured presentations from staff in Agriculture and Food, Land and Water and Mineral Resources business units.
CSIRO’s Waite-based agriculture and food research is focused on southern farming systems, wine grapes and horticulture, genomic science for crop performance, soil carbon and nutrient cycling and agricultural adaptation to and mitigation of global change.
Projects featured at the conference included identifying the genetic basis of sodium exclusion in grapevine; modelling frost risk at paddock and landscape scale; and the development of crop and soil sensing techniques for seasonal and site-specific nitrogen management in precision agriculture.
The conference also heard updates on CSIRO Land and Water research projects including the use of underground aquifers for water recycling and storage; identifying and overcoming problems to enable the expansion of irrigated horticulture in the Northern Adelaide Plains; and understanding the links between river flow and ecology in Nepal.
In the minerals sector, CSIRO’s Waite-based research focuses on intelligent mining and resource management. This includes developing new minerals sorting and analysis technologies for use in the mining industry and exciting new platforms in deep earth imaging technology.
The conference highlighted the diversity and important broad applications of CSIRO research at the Waite. Strong collaborations with other Waite Campus partners and national and international organisations was also a feature of many of the projects showcased.
