University of Melbourne soils research recognised with new research grants

The University of Melbourne is a leader in soil science research and education, nationally and internationally. This science expertise has been recognised with the University’s soil scientists being awarded three major research grants.

Professor Bill Malcolm, Head of the School of Food and Agriculture, and Acting Dean of the Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences, said, “Global food production will need to increase by 70 per cent by 2050 to provide for the added nutritional demands of increasing populations and increasing numbers of people in poor countries with higher incomes. Farmers will need to produce more output from the available land and do it in environmentally safe ways.

“These new projects are about providing solutions to the major challenge for managing soils in Australian agriculture: increasing agricultural productivity and production while protecting the state of the natural environment. Output from these research projects will also assist Australian farmers to maintain and increase agriculture production under a more difficult climate, enabling them to continue to earn valuable export income for the nation.”

These new research projects are partnerships between the University of Melbourne, the Australian Government, and Australia’s agricultural industries, with funding for the projects shared roughly equally. The research funding is about good science tackling industry needs.

• One new project is to protect and build the populations of microbes in the soil to create a more biologically active soil to sustain agricultural production. The project is being led by Professor Jim He and Dr Hang-Wei Hu, and is supported by the Australian Government Soil Science Challenge Program.
• Another project is to restore the losses of soil organic carbon from Australian cropping systems – led by Professor Deli Chen and Dr Raymond (Shukee) Lam – also supported by the Soil Science Challenge Program.
• The third project is to better utilise multispecies pastures in the rainfed dairy industry of Victoria and Tasmania – led by Associate Professor Helen Suter and supported by the Australian Government’s Future Drought Fund Resilient Soils and Landscapes Program, and Dairy Australia.

Professor Malcolm said that Australian agricultural soils are continually supplying inputs to help produce agricultural output.

“The capacity of our soils to do this needs to be managed with care. These research projects are focussed on the biological health of agricultural soils, aiming to improve the natural fertility of soils, increase the efficiency of use of available water and moderate reliance on costly chemical inputs.

“Investment in agricultural research is critical to solving problems in agriculture. It is very encouraging to see our top-class researchers in agricultural science, who are asking key questions, being recognised and funded well to do their work. These research grants are testament to the strength of soil science at the University of Melbourne.”