First of its kind – AgriFutures growAG. gateway delivers Australia’s agrifood innovation to the world

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AgriFutures
Image Credit: agrifutures.com.au
Media Release by AgriFutures

When the AgriFutures growAG. program and platform (growag.com) were launched by the Minister for Agriculture and Northern Australia, the Hon. David Littleproud MP in April 2021, the goal for the first of its kind innovation gateway was to connect users from around the globe to Australia’s agrifood innovation.

Delivering on what it was set out to do, the bespoke website showcases Australian agrifood innovation research projects, organisations, and research, investment and commercialisation opportunities online in one, easy to use location. Supported by a unique concierge system to enhance connections and drive relationships and partnerships.

growAG. has been embraced by the local and global agrifood communities with more than 39,000 users from across 167 countries visiting growag.com since its launch.

growAG. is a joint initiative by the 15 Research and Development Corporations (RDCs) and the Australian Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment (DAWE).

Adertisement

Minister for Agriculture and Northern Australia David Littleproud said growag.com was developed as a shared vision to showcase Australia’s leading agricultural research, unique technologies, and commercialisation opportunities to drive investment, collaboration, and partnerships in a transparent manner.

“This is an online window to showcase Aussie agricultural innovation and the results are showing for themselves how many countries across the world are interested,” Minister Littleproud said.

“It also provides information to farmers the latest research being developed by the rural Research and Development Corporations including building a database for pollination dependency data, assessing a potential new source of resistance in tall wheat grass for Fusarium crown rot and regional specific GHG emissions mitigation practices in the red meat industry.”

Since launching in April 2021, there has been more than 2,500 research projects and 100 commercial opportunities listed on growAG., and over 442 connections made. One in three visits to the platform have been international, from countries including the United States, New Zealand, India, the United Kingdom, China, Singapore, Germany, Canada, and Ireland, while the balance has been from local users. The transparency, accessibility and connections afforded by the platform are translating to meaningful discussions and partnerships.

AgriFutures Australia, Managing Director, Mr John Harvey, said the reach that growAG. has achieved over the past 11 months is reflective of its capacity to bring together world-leading thinking, investment, and collaboration to drive innovation and prosperity across Australia’s primary industries. The sole purpose of the growAG. program is to help drive global collaboration and link researchers, investors, and commercial partners to our innovation.

“Australian farmers and value chain stakeholders help to fund some of the most innovative agricultural research in the world and we should be very proud of our position as a global leader,” Mr Harvey said.

“However, for this work to translate to real and tangible gains in efficiency, sustainability and profitability, capital and investment is required to commercialise the enormous amount of activity being undertaken across the agriculture, fisheries, and forestry sectors.

“Over the course of the past year, growAG. has laid its foundation as a global marketplace for agrifood innovation having attracted researchers, entrepreneurs, startups, scaleups, SMEs, corporates, investors, incubators and accelerators, industry bodies, agronomists, and farmers from 167 countries. We have also seen users grow month-on-month.

“This is a resource that does not exist anywhere else in the world, and we are looking forward to continuing to see the information being shared and the connections being made leading to on-the-ground benefits for Australian farmers and agrifood businesses.”

If you have a research project, commercialisation opportunity or an organisation you would like listed on growag.com, please visit growag.com/submit. Explore, find and connect with relevant research projects and innovation opportunities from across Australia’s agrifood innovation system at growag.com.