Life Sciences Commons^™

Western Australia's Bulk And Containerised Grain Exports In A National Context, Ross Kingwell, Dipesh Maharjan

Research Reports

This report describes containerised and bulk grain exports from Western Australia and all other main grain-producing Australian states. The types of grain, their export volumes and destinations, since 2011-12 until 2021-22 are described.

Propagating Jujubes, Rachelle Johnstone

Research Reports

Jujubes can be propagated by various methods such as wedge/cleft grafting, whip grafting and bark grafting as well as budding. Local propagators have better success with budding but find that wedge grafting leads to a stronger tree. Most of the latest research into propagation is in micropropagation and tissue culture however this technique is mainly used for research and breeding new cultivars and not in a commercial capacity. Grafting can be more of an art than a science. Much of the success of grafting depends on not only performing a technically correct graft but performing the graft at the proper …

Growing Jujubes In Western Australia, Rachelle Johnstone

Research Reports

The Chinese jujube (Ziziphus jujuba Mill.) is one of the most important fruit crops in China and has been commonly used as a traditional Chinese medicine and food for thousands of years. The jujube is widely grown in China with cultivation records going back more than 3000 years and can also be found in neighbouring countries. The jujube is a medium-sized tree, growing 7–10 metres high. The tree has shiny deciduous foliage and produces a fruit that is known as a drupe. The fruit varies in size depending on the cultivar, and it has a thin, dark red skin surrounding …

Nitrogen Fixation And Seeding Rates Of Common Vs. Hairy Vetch For Interseeding Into Established Switchgrass Stands, K. Warwick, F. L. Allen, Patrick D. Keyser, G. E. Bates, D. D. Tyler, P. L. Lambdin, A. J. Ashworth

Research Reports

Interest in alternatives to synthetic nitrogen (N) fertilizer sources for switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) production, such as interseeding with N- fixing legumes continues to increase. Common vetch (Vicia sativa) is a N-fixing legume that occurs naturally throughout the U.S. and has less hard seed than hairy vetch (Vicia villosa), making it potentially less invasive, and it may fix N at similar rates to that of hairy vetch. However, little data exist to substantiate this. In this study, N-fixation rates via the N-difference method were determined to be 59.3 and 43.3 kg N ha-1 …

Genetically Modified Canola Trials In 2009, Department Of Agriculture And Food, Western Australia

Research Reports

During 2009, just over 860 hectares of Roundup Ready® canola were grown in Western Australia enabled by an exemption order under the Genetically Modified Crops Free Areas Act 2003. The aim of the trials was to establish whether GM canola could be segregated from non-GM canola along the WA supply chain, and whether GM canola was agronomically viable for WA farming systems. This was the first time genetically modified canola had been grown on a commercial scale in WA - earlier exemptions for smaller trials had been for variety testing and scientific purposes.

Production Of Biodiesel From Perennials, Henry Brockman

Research Reports

A scoping study funded through South West Catchment Council (SWCC)/National Action Plan (NAP) into the development of industries for saline land, identified three plant species suitable and potentially economically feasible for this environment. The main product of two of these plant species, is the production of bio-diesel. The mentioned plant species are Moringa oleifera and Pongamia pinnata. Both are tolerant to high salinity levels, waterlogging, frost and drought. Their pods are harvested, meaning that the trees keep on growing, using water and reducing the high watertable whilst sequestrating carbon. Bio-fuels must be sustainable, with these two plant species fitting all …

Pulse Industry Extension : Expanding Pulse Cropping By Targeted Extension Of Improved Varieties And Management Packages : A Final Report Prepared For The Grains Research And Development Corporation : Grdc Project Number Daw00100, Mark Seymour

Research Reports

The project aimed to overcome the barrier of harvesting field peas by promoting the role and value of semi-leafless varieties in combination with appropriate management in order to modify the attitude of growers and their advisers towards field pea [in Western Australia]." -- Project summary.

A Million Hectares For The Future : A Final Report Prepared For The Grains Research And Development Corporation, Trevor Lacey

Research Reports

Final report -- Evaluation summary report for the "Million hectares for the future" pre-pilot workshops series -- Opportunities for the use of Million hectares workshops / products in future -- Workshop development process.
(En)
"The "A million hectares for the future" project has developed a series of workshops (based on adult learning principles) for use by industry facilitators working with farmers. They outline salinity hazards and management options to farmers as part of an environmental improvement systems." ... with farmers in Western Australia and South Australia" - - Project summary.

Alternative Oilseeds R&D For Biodiesel Production 2001, Paul Carmody, Howrd Carr, Anne Morcom, Graham Walton

Research Reports

There is a slow but growing realization that crude oil is our weakness component in Australia’s energy portfolio. Australia’s domestic reserves of heavy crude oil, which is essential in the production of petroleum diesel, it expected to reach exhaustion by 2012 on current usage patterns. A need to become more heavily dependant on import crude oil will impact on our balance of trade and further expose our transport and rural sectors to international oil price fluctuations.

Biodiesel is widely known an excellent alternative to mineral diesel and has been extensively demonstrated in the EC and the United States. It is …

Vegetation Trend In The Fitzroy Region. An Analysis Of 1995 And 1998 Ground Monitoring Data., Noelene Duckett, Paul Novelly, Ian Watson, National Landcare Program (Australia), Csiro

Research Reports

This document summarises the analyses carried out on the ground monitoring data from the Kimberley region of Western Australia as part of the Natural Heritage Trust project 953024 - ‘'Development of Information Products for Reporting Rangeland Changes.”

This project has been investigating ways of integrating rangeland trend information collated from Landsat satellite data and site-specific ground vegetation data. This has been carried out by extending and refining previous approaches developed by Agriculture Western Australia and CSIRO Mathematical and Information Sciences (e.g. Wallace et al. 1994). The principal objective of the project is to develop useful information products which …

The Use Of Red Mud/Gypsum To Reduce Water Pollution From Sandy Soils Used For Vegetable Production, Ian Mcpharlin, W. J. Robertson, R. C. Jeffery

Research Reports

An important domestic and export vegetable industry is located on the sands of the Swan Coastal Plain (SCP) in Western Australia. The total value of the vegetable industry on the SCP was estimated at $90M in 1996/7 or about 50% of the total value of the industry. This vegetable production has been located on good quality sands such as the Spearwood and yellow Karrakatta sands, close to the coast, since the 1950s. However in recent years competition for this land for urban and industrial use has forced vegetable production onto soils with poorer water and phosphorus retention capacity such as …

Flora Of The Quindalup Dunes Between Swan And Irwin Rivers, Western Australia, E A. Griffin

Research Reports

A study designed to determine the variation in the composition of the vegetation on the coastal Holocenes and deposits between Perth and Geraldton is described. The study was based on 545 sites at which descriptions of the geology, landform, soil and vegetation and a complete list of flora were made.The floristic composition of these sites varied considerably. Numerical classification showed some quite distinct communities and others which seemed part of a multi-dimensional continuum. Several factors appeared to be instrumental in the variation in composition. Landforms (incipient fore dunes, dunes or plains) were a major factor. So too were proximity to …

Examination And Development Of An Essential Oil Industry In The Ord River Irrigation Area Of North Western Australia, Jean M.V. Bonnardeaux

Research Reports

The project aimed at establishing an essential oil industry in the Ord River Irrigation Area (ORIA). This industry is particularly suited to the ORIA where transport costs often prohibit the development of some agricultural products. The oils are concentrated and highly valuable. In addition, the ORIA with its abundant water and high temperatures presents a unique opportunity to grow a wide range of crops for the production of essential oils used by the food, medicinal and perfume industries. Australia has therefore an opportunity to initiate a new industry capable of replacing imports and gaining access to world markets representing a …