Over the last 10 years, the Australian agriculture sector has boosted its investment in research and development (R&D), contributing to farm productivity, competitiveness, and sustainability.
ABARES Executive Director Dr Jared Greenville stated that the increase in funding was a positive sign for the agriculture sector.
“Total agricultural R&D funding in 2020-21 was $2.20 billion, with an average annual growth rate of 4.335% from 2011-12 to 2020-21,” Dr Greenville said.
Dr Greenville claims private sector funding has expanded faster than public sector funding.
“Private sector funding has grown at an average annual rate of 5.63% from 2005?06 to 2021-22, exceeding the 2.02% annual growth rate of public sector investment,” Dr Greenville added.
Dr Greenville explained that the private sector’s total agricultural R&D funding proportion has risen from 29% in 2005-06 to 42% in 2020-21. While this is encouraging news, Dr Greenville warned that much private sector investment depends on underpinning government-financed R&D.
R&D investment allows for introducing new technology and knowledge into the Australian agricultural system, and ABARES has verified the importance of R&D to the industry.
“R&D continues to be a good investment, with our latest estimates indicating that $1 of R&D investment generates a return of around $8 in agricultural gross value added. Given its impact on the agriculture sector, it’s important to measure and understand changes in R&D investment over time,” Dr Greenville said.
