Finalist

Innovation and Entrepreneurship Team of the Year (Rising Star) Award

ARC Research Hub for Driving Farming Productivity and Disease Prevention

Finalist of the Innovation and Entrepreneurship Team of the Year (Rising Star) Award

ARC Research Hub for Driving Farming Productivity and Disease Prevention - Australia

"Building Sustainable and Intelligent Future Farming Industries"


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(Official Twitter account for ARC Research Hub for Driving Farming Productivity and Disease Prevention)

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The Award Ceremony for this entry (award category "Innovation and Entrepreneurship Team of the Year (Rising Star) ") will take place on 27 June 2023, 18:45 to 19:45 CEST.

Summary

The ARC Research Hub for Driving Farming Productivity and Disease Prevention is committed to developing innovative solutions to far-reaching and complex challenges facing our farming communities by translating cutting-edge research and smart technology into real-world applications.

The Hub is a national centre of excellence for industrial transformation of smart agriculture funded by the Australian Government through the Australian Research Council Industrial Transformation Research Program and industry.

Established in early 2019, it brings together world-class, multi-disciplinary researchers from partner universities and research organisations including The University of Sydney, The University of Adelaide, The University of Western Australia, Deakin University, Griffith University, Monash University and the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), to work alongside industry partners Australian Bay Lobster Producers Limited (ABLP), Davco Agriculture, Sunray Strawberries, Next VPU (Shanghai) Co, and Aquarius Technologies Pty Ltd.

By combining world-leading capabilities in image processing, machine learning, robotics, and software, with additional expertise in agronomy, biology, water use, and farming technology, the Hub has achieved significant success, with research outcomes already implemented in both testing and production environments. Adopted innovations have improved efficiency and revolutionized the way business is carried out, promoting higher farming efficiencies and lower production and disease costs. The Hub’s work has proven potential to benefit food production and distribution on a global scale.

The Hub team also builds on Australia’s research and innovation capacity through support for research training and career opportunities that enable Australian and international researchers and research students to work with industry and other end-users.

Key People


Professor Yongsheng Gao
Director
Griffith University,  ARC Research Hub for Driving Farming Productivity and Disease Prevention



Professor John Grundy
ARC Research Hub Deputy Director, Laureate Fellow & Professor of Software Engineering
Department of Software Systems and Cybersecurity, Monash Data Futures Institute,  Monash University



Professor Jun Zhou
ARC Research Hub Deputy Director & Deputy Head of School (Research)
School of Information and Communication Technology,  Griffith University



Winthrop Professor Mohammed Bennamoun
Winthrop Professor & ARC Research Hub Chief Investigator
School of Physics, Maths and Computing, Computer Science and Software Engineering,  University of Western Australia



Associate Professor Andrew Busch
Deputy Head of School (Learning and Teaching) & ARC Research Hub Chief Investigator
School of Engineering and Built Environment,  Griffith University



Professor Jin-Song Dong
Professor & ARC Research Hub Chief Investigator
Institute for Integrated and Intelligent Systems,  Griffith University



Professor Rebecca Ford
Dean & ARC Research Hub Chief Investigator
Griffith Graduate Research School,  Griffith University



Professor Rosanne Guijt
Professor of Smart Sensors & ARC Research Hub Chief Investigator
Faculty of Science, Engineering and Built Environment, Centre for Regional and Rural Futures (CeRRF),  Deakin University



Professor Qin Li
Professor of Environmental Engineering & ARC Research Hub Chief Investigator
School of Engineering and Built Environment,  Griffith University



Dr Lingqiao Liu
Senior Lecturer & ARC Research Hub Chief Investigator
Australian Institute for Machine Learning (AIML), Computer Science,  University of Adelaide



Professor Simon Lucey
Director & ARC Research Hub Chief Investigator
Australian Institute for Machine Learning (AIML),  University of Adelaide



Professor Ajmal Mian
Professor & ARC Research Hub Chief Investigator
School of Physics, Maths and Computing, Computer Science and Software Engineering,  University of Western Australia



Professor Nam-Trung Nguyen
Director & ARC Research Hub Chief Investigator
Queensland Micro and Nanotechnology Centre,  Griffith University



Dr Changming Sun
Principle Research Scientist & ARC Research Hub Chief Investigator
Data 61,  Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO)



Professor Dacheng Tao
ARC Laureate Fellow, Professor of Computer Science & ARC Research Hub Chief Investigator
School of Computer Science,  University of Sydney


Acknowledgements

We wish to acknowledge and thank the Australian Research Council for the granting of $AUD 5 million towards the Hub project and for its ongoing support.

Thanks to our industry partners for their financial contributions and collaborations:

Aquarius Technologies Pty Ltd
Australian Bay Lobster Producers Ltd (ABLP)
Davco Agriculture
Next VPU (Shanghai)
Sunray Strawberries

Thanks to our collaborative research partner organisations:

The University of Adelaide
The University of Sydney
The University of Western Australia
Deakin University
Monash University
Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO)

Special thanks to host institution, Griffith University, for financial and on-the-ground support

Images

ABLP Hub Team

Chief Investigators - Griffith University

Hub Director, Professor Yongsheng Gao, presenting at Official Hub Launch

Official Hub Opening by Senator the Honourable Amanda Stoker, Assistant Minister to the Attorney-General; Assistant Minister for Women; Assistant Minister for Industrial Relations and Ms Judi Zielke PSM, acting Chief Executive Officer, Australian Research Council (ARC)

Governing in the Digital Age Short Course Participants - Hub Visit

Hub Smart Technology - Australian Bay Lobster Producers (ABLP)

In the Field - Smart Sugarcane Planting

Dr Gilbert Eaton, Research Fellow, ARC Research Hub

Smart, Strawberry Quality Assurance System

ARC Research Hub for Driving Farming Productivity and Disease Prevention - Partners

IMPACT STORY

Impacting lifes

As a Higher Degrees Research graduate of Griffith University, Dr Gilbert Eaton was selected from Honours students in the Engineering undergraduate program to work on the Hub’s strawberry quality assurance system and was subsequently promoted to industry.

Gilbert initially worked on strawberry farms in both Queensland and South Australia developing the Hub’s inline quality vision system. This gave Gilbert an appreciation of integration of real-world systems and the impact they have on the businesses. Working with industry partner, Sunray Strawberries, also gave Gilbert the opportunity for industry presence and to build a reputation.

There are now three new projects which have been implemented after the successful deployment of the vision system. Gilbert’s PhD was awarded in 2020 and he now plays an integral role as Research Fellow with Hub industry partner, Australian Bay Lobster Producers (ABLP).

Working alongside ABLP, Gilbert and the Hub team have developed integrated machine vision and robotics technology to fully automate many aspects of ABLP’s lobster farming facility, including continuous, real-time monitoring of lobster. This world-first smart technology promotes industry scale-up facilitating massive increases to production.

The aquaculture industry currently relies heavily on workers to monitor animals via visual inspection and manual handling often in conditions that, while conducive to animal health and wellbeing, are extremely challenging to humans. The adoption of Hub-developed automated technology solves this issue, facilitating a better working environment for workers in the sector.

LEARNINGS

Lessons learned

Lessons Learned
Remain flexible, with the ability to adapt quickly to ever-changing, sometimes volatile, industry and societal environments. Be prepared and have contingent plans in place, as unpredictable factors can impact translation of your research work. Seek out the opportunities that lie within the challenges presented. These learnings were borne out of the unpredictable and unprecedented Covid-19 era and the resultant global impact on industry, governments and society.

With some industry partners no longer able to operate as usual and recruitment impacted by travel restrictions, the Hub reviewed and adapted project work accordingly, and focussed attention on actively promoting the technology already developed with a view to creating spin-off opportunities.

Development of our smart, strawberry quality monitoring system, for example, had already surpassed milestone expectations, when the strawberry industry faced massive labour shortages. Labour resources dwindled as backpackers were no longer able to travel and take up work as pickers and packers. This posed a significant problem for the berry sector, including our industry partner who no longer had the capacity to commercialise project technology, as planned. Consequently, the Hub progressed plans to take on this commercialisation role, pursuing spin-off opportunities that encourage broader, large-scale uptake of smart technology, for example via a distribution centre model that can benefit multiple farms.

By maintaining a flexible approach, the Hub has continued to deliver innovative and meaningful technology to meet the shifting needs of industry and developed agile, yet robust, systems that quickly adapt to suit a fast-changing industry climate.

FUTURE PLANS

What's coming?

The Hub team is excited for the next chapter – the creation of a future farming initiative that brings together industry, government and researchers on a grand scale to solve key challenges across the agrifood sector, including, but not limited to, pathogens and pests, sustainability, product quality, and yield and productivity.

The proposed vehicle for this initiative is a Cooperative Research Centre collaboration (CRC). The CRC program is an Australian Government grant program, established in 1990, that provides funding for up to 10 years. CRCs are independent entities comprised of industry, researchers and community members, that focus on research and development for commercial use. CRCs are industry-driven to ensure research and outcomes meet industry needs.

The initiative builds on the expertise and strengths of combined participants, with the Hub playing a key role in the areas of: early detection of harmful pests and plant diseases; machine vision for automated harvesting, grading and packing of crops; and automated aquaculture farming with precision feeding, continuous growth/health monitoring and robotic cleaning and harvesting.

Hub research and resultant applications will expand well beyond the three industries of current focus, aquaculture, strawberries and sugar, to incorporate many diverse agricultural sectors, such as livestock, grain and regenerative agriculture. The next stage will see further scale-up and adoption of Hub-developed technology for smart innovation in the agrifood sector.

It is envisaged that the Hub’s strong industry engagement, entrepreneurial drive and solid research outcomes will continue to benefit farming communities both nationally and internationally for many years to come.

KEY STATISTICS

$AUD 10,000,000

Combined government/industry funding; additional in-kind support of over $AUD5.8 million

22

Identified new processes/products arising from Hub research to date

64

Staff, postdoctoral fellows and students engaged on Hub project

5

Industry partners

7

Research organisations

16

Number of partners and external stakeholders involved in mentoring programs

15

Students and/or postdoctoral fellows currently placed in industry

Triple E Awards

The Triple E Awards are a global recognition of efforts toward the quest for entrepreneurship and engagement in higher education. It is the first award to focus specifically on different dimensions of the universities' third mission. Implemented regionally, the Triple E Awards aim to foster change in universities and to emphasize their role in their communities and ecosystems.

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