STRENGTHENING collaboration and co-operation to succeed in an increasingly competitive world and building on Western Australia's advantages is set to be the focus of the State's new drought hub.
The South West WA Drought Adoption and Innovation Hub is one of eight around Australia which are set to share in almost $80 million in Federal government funding until 2024.
The Grower Group Alliance (GGA) will be co-ordinating the South West project and is currently in the process of recruiting staff and establishing hub priorities.
Speaking via Zoom at the GGA Hub Consortia Information Forum last Wednesday, interim hub director Graham Smith said WA had a world-class agriculture sector that helped to underpin regional communities.
"WA is a major exporter in its own right - exporting over $7 billion annually, or over 80 per cent of what is produced," Mr Smith said.
"There is a highly educated workforce in WA with good academic and research institutions, while the State has a history of entrepreneurship, starting with the mining industry."
Wheat yield in WA is still increasing, but that is getting harder every year due to the warming climate.
Like anywhere else in Australia, or indeed the rest of the world, the industry is also facing agri-tech challenges.
"Hotter, drier climates are making it harder to farm profitably, particularly given water issues," Mr Smith said.
"International competition is growing, as are the capabilities and capacities of competing countries targeting our hard won Asian markets.
"We are not spending enough money on longer-term transformational research and our innovation capabilities are below many of our major trading partners."
While Australian farmers are some of the best in the world, as a country we are not particularly good at collaboration and co-operation.
According to Mr Smith, a 2017 study of 7000 small and medium-sized enterprises found an association between innovation, collaboration and productivity growth.
"Australia ranks very low amongst Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries when it comes to collaboration and co-operation, especially between industry, universities and government," he said.
"We tend to undertake too many short-term, fragmented projects within 'silos' instead of longer-term strategic partnerships."
On the Global Innovation Index (GII), Australia is currently ranked 23 globally, with many of our major trading partners, including in Asia, either ahead or catching up fast.
Australia is currently spending about $25b annually on research and development, while China and America each spend over $500b per year.
On top of that, by 2050 most of the world's largest economies will be Asian - China, India and Indonesia.
Without better collaboration, Australian agriculture is at risk of falling behind, but that is where the Drought Adoption and Innovation Hubs come in.
"One of the key principles of the WA drought hub will be a strong cross-functional collaboration to leverage impact and increase adoption," Mr Smith said.
"We will be focusing on more world-class innovation, for mutual benefit, as well as open and transparent procedures and behaviours.
"On top of that, we plan to define what success looks like for each project and how to achieve it, plus we will be hosting regular public knowledge exchanges including science and innovation forums."
For the South West hub, the next steps will include:
- Recruiting staff
- Establishing hub priorities
- Principles of engagement
- Stakeholder workshops
- Preparing for Federal
- Innovation grants
- Initial projects
- Science to Practice Forum