Safeguarding Australia

A symposium entitled: Biosecurity in the New Bioeconomy: Threats and Opportunities, will be hosted by CSIRO at the Shine Dome in Canberra from Thursday 19 to Saturday 21 November.

Research on stored product insects has improved application techniques for fumigants, insecticides, controlled atmospheres and inert dusts.

Two Australian school students who competed successfully in this year’s BHP Billiton Science Awards have gone on to win prizes in two major international science competitions.

Dr Sharon Downes will use her Australian Government Science and Innovation Award for Young People in Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry to investigate, through careful mating and DNA fingerprinting, whether female bollworms choose which of their sexual partners father their offspring.

CSIRO is researching ways to help farmers remain productive during drought conditions. They are also discovering methods to improve water use efficiency and maximise production.

We focus on finding new, integrated ways to manage our water supply and water resources issues. This includes land use change, salinity, climate change, groundwater extraction and drainage schemes. 

The Heartlands consortium aims to improve land use in the Murray-Darling Basin to preserve land and water resources and sustain commodity production.

The Restoring Near-City Catchments project aims to guide management plans for the restoration and protection of healthy waterways and water ecosystems in near-city catchments around Australia.

The combined frequencies of days with very high and extreme Forest Fire Danger Index ratings are likely to increase.

The potential effects of climate change on the distribution of weeds is discussed in this article from Farming Ahead. (3 pages)

This fact sheet provides an overview of the Water Information Research and Development Alliance, which brings together CSIRO's science expertise in water and information sciences and the Bureau of Meteorology's operational role in hydrologic analysis and prediction to transform Australia's water resources management. (2 pages)

CSIRO Plant Industry conducts research to promote profitable and sustainable agrifood, fibre and horticultural industries, develop new plant products and improve natural resource management.

This article from Farming Ahead contains four stories on a ‘trigenomic’ chromosome to help in breeding disease resistant wheat, a new soybean variety to help cane growers, technology uptake by graziers and safeguards against the livestock disease, capripox. (1 page)

Dr Martyn Jeggo, Director of CSIRO's Australian Animal Health Laboratory, discusses future foot and mouth disease (FMD) virus research to ensure that Australia's livestock industries continue to be protected from the threat of an outbreak of this devastating disease.

Scientists at CSIRO are researching long-term management strategies for Parkinsonia aculeata which can also be used as a model for understanding other woody weeds in the Australian landscape.

CSIRO scientists are developing long-term management strategies to sustainably manage parkinsonia across the diverse landscape in which it occurs.

Genetics research by CSIRO scientists is helping to prolong the life of transgenic cottons containing insect toxins. Genetics research by CSIRO scientists is helping to prolong the life of transgenic cottons containing insect toxins.

Scientists are monitoring the establishment, damage and impacts from the seed-feeding beetle, Penthobruchus germaini, a biological control agent that was introduced to northern Australia to help control the woody weed parkinsonia.

The USDA’s Australian Biological Control Laboratory is conducting biological control studies on Old World climbing fern, a native of the moist old world tropics and subtropics, which is a weed in the USA.

This information sheet discusses research on the role of native vegetation as a source of beneficial insects leading to improved pest management strategies for cotton and grain growers. (2 pages)

In this Farming Ahead article, CSIRO scientists reveal how they have quantified the amount of water that willows, a major environmental problem in parts of South-East Australia, use. (3 pages)

This two-page article from Farming Ahead looks at the effect of increased herbicide use on soil nitrogen fixation in grain legumes such as field peas.

This document includes presentations from session four of the Biosecurity in the new bioeconomy: threats and opportunities symposia held 18-21 November 2009 in Canberra, Australia Capital Territory. (183 pages)

This document includes presentations from session five of the Biosecurity in the new bioeconomy: threats and opportunities symposia, held 18-21 November 2009 in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. (105 pages)

All textile producers and processors must meet tough new standards if they want to do business in Europe. CSIRO’s internationally accredited chemical testing service is assisting the wool industry comply with Europe’s Eco-label requirements.