The Australian Government has awarded six projects a total of $5.6 million under the Australia-India Strategic Research Fund (AISRF), Australia’s largest fund dedicated to bilateral research.
The Indian Government will contribute additional $10 million to the projects, which will tackle
challenges to agricultural productivity and food security, and help develop clean energy technologies.
The Australian recipients include the South Australian Research and Development Institute (SARI), the University of Tasmania, Deakin University and the University of New South Wales. The projects also involve Sugar Research Australia Limited and the Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries.
The projects funded by the AISRF are:
Hotwiring microbial communities for enhanced unconventional gas production (UNSW; $967,192);
New materials for large scale, high stability, high energy density batteries: from material design to prototype development (Deakin; $999,925);
Genetic control and genomic selection for important traits in sugarcane, and comparison of elite Indian and Australian germplasm (Sugar Research Australia; $644,332);
Developing salt tolerant rice for food security in India and Australia (University of Tasmania; $997,500);
Deploying biotechnology-based
decision-making tools in post-harvest grain pest management to enhance food security and market access (QLD Dep Ag&Fish; $999,699) and;
Improving Chickpea Adaptation to Environmental Challenges in Australia and India (SARI; $998,749)
