The FATE facility can apply specific temperatures at specific times to capture open-air data that supports development of grain-growing planning. It will also help farmers understand how environmental factors affect the response of new crop varieties, their resistance to pests and disease, and crop-production techniques.
The FATE centre will also provide researchers with data for use in computer-simulation models to forecast grain-growing options for regions without access to the on-ground technology.
Agriculture Victoria senior research scientist at Horsham’s Grains Innovation Park Glenn Fitzgerald said the project had been in a proof-of-concept stage.
“It is undergoing testing and engineering assessments and we expect to have it fully operational in 2022,” he said.
“We will have four of these trolleys, measuring about four and half metres tall with heaters we will be able to lower and raise over crops in the subject area.
“It’s about better understanding how varieties of crops respond to heat waves, which with climate change are expected to become more frequent and severe.
“The project allows us to do multiple experiments in one facility. Being in an open environment, we can sow as normal and basically control the environment around a crop.
“Breeders, in developing crop varieties they believe are heat tolerant, will be able to put them to the test. They will have the option of saying ‘let’s put them under FATE to see if they are going to perform as we think’. We will also be able to test for different cross-management – whether it be through stubble retention, row spacing – that might impact on a crop’s heat tolerance and to test whether it can maintain yield into the future.”
Opportunities
Mr Fitzgerald said FATE could also assess the impact of frost on crop varieties using reference samples with targeted heating at night.
He also plans for the project overall to involve more than closed-sector research and provide demonstration opportunities to the public.
“We expect students and tours to come through and see how it works. Collaboration and demonstration is part of this – to inform the public what we’re doing,” he said.
Mr Fitzgerald said crops research in Horsham worked in an integrated way and often involved scientists from different disciplines.
“We are creating opportunities through technological development for scientists to work as teams. Working with the prospect of climate change can get complicated and this facility will address some of those questions that need answering.”
Parliamentary Secretary for Regional Victoria Danielle Green was in Horsham late last week to launch the FATE facility.
“This is an example of innovative technology being used to modernise and protect our agricultural sector,” she said.
“By backing experimental research, we are building a knowledge bank that will help Victorian farmers increase their productivity, profitability and sustainability in the face of extreme weather events.”
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