Knowledge and technology transfer and adoption

Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://elibrary2.sugarresearch.com.au/handle/11079/13847

Research outcomes: Research results and new technologies are communicated and transferred in an appropriate and timely manner across the industry value chain, supporting increased uptake of best-practice and innovative technology. A skilled advisory sector that drives the adoption of new technology. An industry knowledge base that incorporates and makes freely available the most up-to-date production methodologies to industry. Collaborative alliances, partnerships and networks that optimise synergies, integrate knowledge and share best-practices.

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    A Common Approach to Greenhouse-Gas Accounting for Australian Agriculture: Project Overview & Non-Technical Summary
    (2023-04) Cowie, Annette
    This document accompanies the Methods and Data Guidance (Sevenster et al., 2023) and Common Terminology (Cowie et al., 2023) documents to provide a non-technical description of the project that led to the development of those documents, and an executive summary of the key technical decisions in the Methods and Data Guidance document. It is intended for industry decision makers without expert knowledge of greenhouse gas (GHG) accounting, and to be read in conjunction with the two technical documents. The need for a common approach to GHG accounting across agricultural sectors was identified in a stakeholder workshop in December 2019 with participants representing most Rural Research and Development Corporations (RDCs), the National Farmers Federation and sector-level peak bodies, federal and state government, AFI, Rabobank and expert consultants. As sector-level reporting was starting to become important (e.g. Mayberry et al. 2018), the lack of clear methodological guidance for this type of GHG accounting was clear. A collaborative project was developed, initially by the Climate Research Strategy for Primary Industries (CRSPI) collaboration and then by Agricultural Innovation Australia (AIA), who commissioned CSIRO and a large team of subcontractors to conduct an interactive, collaborative process to develop such guidance with broad support from both agricultural sectors and technical experts. The scope of the project was to develop a consistent common framework for agriculture GHG baseline accounting at sector level (i.e. a Common Approach). Implementation of the framework was not part of the project and is up to each sector individually. While many stakeholders contributed to the development of the Common Approach there is no obligation or commitment on any party to implement it. The Common Approach is a state-of-the-art, best practice guidance for sector-level GHG accounting and can be seen as aspirational; guiding improvements in data collection and GHG reporting over time across Australia’s agricultural sectors.
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    A Common Approach to Greenhouse-Gas Accounting for Australian Agriculture: Methods and Data Guidance
    (2023-04) Cowie, Annette
    A common approach for GHG accounting across agricultural sectors is essential to enhance consistency, transparency and confidence in sector-level GHG reporting. Internationally, there are approaches and tools that influence Australian farmers via market access criteria or product labelling, which do not always adequately reflect the reality of Australian farming. A common approach to GHG accounting will allow Australian agriculture to control the representation and communication of climate impacts and mitigation. This Methods and Data Guidance provides a common framework for greenhouse gas (GHG)accounting of Australian agricultural activities at the sector level. The process that was followed to develop this framework is described in the Project Overview and Non-Technical Summary (Sevenster et al., 2023). It describes how GHG accounting can be conducted to generate a transparent and trusted inventory of GHG emissions based on: - a consistent set of principles - a modular approach to account for differences between agricultural sectors - general guidance on data - consistent terminology and language. Agricultural sectors, in the context of this document, refer to individual commodities (or commodity groups such as “grains”), as distinguished by the system of levies applied to primary production. They include forestry and fisheries. No existing standards or protocols exist for this context, which is the reason this guidance document was generated. Nevertheless, where possible and appropriate, the approaches and method choices recommended in this framework draw on relevant guidance from the following frameworks primarily: - Australian National Greenhouse Gas Inventory (NGGI) - ISO 14044:2006 Environmental management — Life cycle assessment — Requirements and guidelines (ISO, 2006) - ISO 14067:2018 Greenhouse gases — Carbon footprint of products — Requirements and guidelines for quantification (ISO, 2018) - guidance provided by the Livestock Environmental Assessment and Performance (LEAP) Partnership (FAO, 2016) - sector-specific guidance for product or corporate accounting, such as IDF (2022). In addition, guidance for corporate accounting provided by the Greenhouse Gas Protocol (GHG-P)(GHG-P, 2015), guidance for product accounting provided by GHG-P(GHG-P, 2011), the Product Environmental Footprint (PEF) scheme (EU, 2021), and guidance from the ILCD Handbook (ILCD, 2010) is referenced for some aspects of the goal and scope principles (2.1).
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    A Common Approach to Greenhouse-Gas Accounting for Australian Agriculture: Common Terminology for GHG Accounting
    (2023-04) Cowie, Annette
    This document is an extended glossary of terms used in or relevant to the project A Common Approach to Sector-Level GHG Accounting for Australian Agriculture, including abbreviations. It accompanies the Methods and Data Guidance (Sevenster et al., 2023a) and Project Overview and Non-Technical Summary (Sevenster et al., 2023b) reports. Definitions have been sourced from authoritative literature, particularly the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) glossary, International Organization for Standardization (ISO) standards, and specific policies and schemes, such as the Emissions Reduction Fund (ERF) and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). Abbreviations are included where in common use. Additional relevant information is included in the glossary entries to aid comprehension and to indicate relevance for Australian agricultural systems.
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    Understanding the mechanisms that control the release of a soluble crystalline agrichemical extruded with polymers
    (2020) Levett, Ian Christopher
    Nitrogen (N) is an essential element to sustain all life on Earth, yet it also wreaks havoc when in excess. The production of synthetic N fertilisers through the Haber-Bosch process began in the early 1900s and initiated the ‘green revolution’, seeing agricultural productivity soar. These productivity gains support roughly half of the current global population. Yet while heavy application of synthetic N fertilisers ensures crop success, it also leads to harmful environmental losses of 50-70% of the N applied. Such losses damage fresh and coastal aquatic ecosystems through eutrophication and biodiversity loss, reduce air quality, accelerate climate change and lead to numerous human health implications. The human race has doubled the cycling of N through the environment leading to a global challenge. To reduce these environmental nutrient losses, enhanced efficiency fertilisers were developed, including slow- and controlled-release fertilisers and stabilised N fertilisers. These products aim to increase the proportion of N taken up by the crop relative to the amount added, meaning that less fertiliser is required. Slow- and controlled-release products specifically aim to deliver N at a rate to match the crop N uptake curve, while N stabilisers are chemical additives that inhibit urease and nitrification in the soil, reducing leaching of highly mobile nitrate-N and lowering denitrification to gaseous nitrogen oxides (NOx) and nitrous oxide (N2O) - a potent greenhouse gas. Dicyandiamide (DCD) is a commercial nitrification inhibitor that effectively reduces N losses and can improve crop productivity in temperate climates. However, in tropical soils, microbial metabolism of this molecule results in limited efficacy. This project aimed to improve the efficacy of DCD for tropical agriculture through encapsulation and controlled-release of this soluble, crystalline agrichemical using biodegradable and environmentally friendly polymers. The principle is to protect the DCD from degradation and extend the duration of effective concentration in the soil. Controlled-release DCD pellets were produced through extrusion processing, as a simple, cost-effective, commercially relevant fabrication technique. The polymers tested include thermo-plastic wheat starch (TPS), the bacterial polyester poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) (PHBV) and synthetic polycaprolactone (PCL) as well as blends of PHBV with PCL. DCD was distributed in these polymers through extrusion melt compounding to produce ~3×3 mm cylindrical pellets. The release kinetics were studied and, importantly, the underlying mechanisms that control release were identified and modelled. Much of the mechanistic understanding was developed through advanced imaging of the materials before and after release, using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), mapping with Raman spectroscopy, and high-resolution X-ray micro-computed tomography (μ-CT). The release kinetics were modelled using empirical and mechanistic models. From the outcomes of these studies, this thesis builds an understanding of the key material design parameters, including: (1) Polymer(s) selection. The physical and chemical properties of the polymer determined the time for release, ranging from 1 day (for TPS) to 6+ months (for PHBV), and the mechanisms controlling release. Release from TPS occurred by rapid diffusion through and swelling of the hydrophilic polymer matrix. By contrast, PHBV shows promise for long-term release profiles (6+ months), but diffusion through this polymer is so slow that release occurs via other mechanisms. Initially, the release was rapid via the dissolution of surface exposed DCD crystals, confirmed through SEM, resulting in ~20 wt.% release within the first 5 h. Between 5 h and 8 weeks, a further 25 wt.% of the DCD was mobilized as water accessed connected DCD crystals or entered via micro-cracks in the matrix, as determined through high-resolution μ-CT and Raman mapping. A large portion (~50%) of the agrichemical remained encapsulated until the PHBV matrix degraded in soil environments. To increase the rate of matrix diffusion, blending with a more hydrophilic polymer, PCL, were studied. However, the higher affinity between DCD and PCL counter-intuitively resulted in less interconnected DCD crystals, which lead to slower release with increasing PCL content in the blend. (2) The DCD loading. This determined the degree of percolation within the matrix, with a threshold at between 200 and 400 g.kg-1 for DCD-PHBV. Below the percolation threshold, this parameter controls the thickness of the polymer between agrichemical crystals. (3) DCD crystal size. Below the percolation threshold, the fractional release from the surface of the pellet was modulated through the grind size of the agrichemical. (4) DCD pellet size. As identified through mathematical modelling, this parameter can control the fractional release rate and has important consequences on the distribution of pellets within the soil. Understanding these key parameters and the mechanisms that control release allows cost-effective, environmentally friendly material design to increase the effectiveness of nitrogen stabilisers in tropical climates and reduce N pollution. Moreover, the knowledge gained here is relevant for the controlled-release of any soluble, crystalline agrichemical and could be applied for the design of controlled-release fertilisers, herbicides and pesticides.
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    Scoping Study for CaneMAPPS Development
    (2022-04-22) Radanielson, Dr A.M.; Lai, Y.R.; Dekeyser, S; Mougouei, D; Pembleton, K.G.
    This project scopes the development requirements of CaneMAPPS: a digital platform to facilitate growers’ adoption and implementation of sustainable farming practices in sugarcane production. Consultations with SRA staff and selected industry experts were conducted via videoconference, focusing on the data use, the constraints in data use, and the type of tools available to support productivity improvement in the sugar industry. The status and needs of current SRA activities were used as a source of information for CaneMAPPS requirements. Information was cross-validated with inputs from one-to-one conversations with selected actors in the industry including growers, third-service providers and government body representatives. Data in the industry are available for a range of different purposes and in different formats. They are in separate locations and managed by different stakeholders with varying rights to access, use and sharing. These constraints reflect a lack of consistency in data collection, management and use in the industry. Recommendations for the development of CaneMAPPS are suggested to account for these constraints to enable data stewardship and governance and ensure relevance and successful engagement of different stakeholders in the industry. With the adoption of these recommendations, the core module for CaneMAPPS, which sets up the infrastructure foundation of the platform, and its first decision-support component, a nutrient management and budgeting analysis service, may be developed within a three-year project. The implementation of an agile development pipeline is a prerequisite for CaneMAPPS development to clearly articulate its scope and benefits for the industry. This will require a multidisciplinary team with expertise in human-centred software engineering, end-user engagement and sugarcane production.
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    Productivity improvements through energy innovation in the Australian sugar industry : final report 2017/011
    (Sugar Research Australia Limited, 2020) Welsh, J; Powell, J
    Water pumping forms a significant portion of energy use in Australian irrigated agriculture. Water for Australia’s $2 billion annual sugarcane crop is from precipitation and irrigation. As an irrigated industry in a variable climate, energy is a critical input and significant cost component in the sugarcane gross margin. With approximately 90 % of irrigated sugarcane growers accessing the national electricity grid for their energy needs, exposure to some of the highest power prices in the world threatens operating margins and export competitiveness. This project examined various technology components available to reduce the cost of pumping in a micro grid situation: solar PV, diesel gensets, grid energy, wind turbine and lithium-ion batteries. The results found that economic feasibility of incorporating components to lower pumping costs was heavily influenced by Ergon grid connection policies and retail pricing, i.e. export limitations of solar PV, feed-in-tariff rate and the high cost of undertaking ‘user pays’ studies for systems above 39 kW acted as a deterrent. Putting aside grid policy barriers, the study found solar PV to be the most cost-effective technology for this purpose when tested among a range of components. For smaller, grid connected irrigation plant (under 40 kWp), incorporating solar PV systems achieved high investment returns.
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    Changes in summer rainfall and implications for agriculture : final report B.CCH.2111
    (Meat and Livestock Australia Limited, 2021) Waha, K
    Annual and seasonal rainfall are important drivers of agricultural productivity and profitability in Australian agriculture and various climatological and synoptic drivers influence rainfall patterns in Australia’s diverse climate. This study detects trends in past and future annual, seasonal and extreme rainfall across three important agricultural production regions in the Australian midlatitudes, using station and gridded data for the 1907 to 2018 period. Apart from region-wide changes, we find a positive trend in summer rainfall for two of the seventeen studied locations and a negative trend in winter rainfall for five of the seventeen locations. There is some indication of an increase in the number of very wet days and the number of days with heavy precipitation in the Northern Murray Darling Basin, and a decrease in the number of consecutive wet days in the coastal regions of Queensland and New South Wales and the Western Australia Wheat Belt. These patterns suggest a change of how rainfall is distributed over the year and a potential increase in rainfall intensity between 1907 and 2013.
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    Pathways to water quality improvement in the Myrtle Creek sub-catchment : final report 2017/810
    (Sugar Research Australia Limited, 2021) O'Dea, M; Ross, P
    The Pathways to Water Quality Improvement in the Myrtle Creek Sub-catchment project (Myrtle Creek Project) has run in the Proserpine area for three years (2018-2021), connecting sugarcane growers in the Myrtle Creek sub-catchment to their local waterway, demonstrating practice change for improved water quality while maximising efficiency and assisting growers to adopt practices that can improve water quality in their district.
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    Investigating the corrosivity of evaporator condensates and the contributing factors : final report 2020/204
    (Sugar Research Australia Limited, 2021) Woods, P; Arzaghi, E
    Recent studies of steam efficient evaporator stations in Australian factories have shown that sucrose degradation and the subsequent formation of acids in the juice produces final evaporator condensates of low pH (sometimes less than 5). Using corrosion coupons this study investigated the corrosivity of final condensates at four factories for four materials commonly used in the construction of evaporators and the ancillary pipework. As well, on-line measurements of pH and instantaneous corrosion rates were made.
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    Increasing sugar recovery through improved mill sanitation and biocide application : final report 2020/203
    (Sugar Research Australia Limited, 2021) Fernando, A; Shi, C
    Undetermined sucrose loss during the processing of sugarcane to sugar is estimated between 1-2%, being a large financial loss to the industry. Microbial infection of sugarcane juice is from the microorganisms that enter the mill with the cane supply, and those from the floor washing and filtrate. Microbial degradation contributes 93% of the sucrose loss in mixed juice. Effective cleaning and sanitation procedures are needed to reduce microbial degradation in a factory. However, the hygiene practices vary among Australian mills. Biocides are not routinely used in Australian mills, though they are used overseas.