Lumen Waite 100 - Flipbook - Page 37
SARDI
Established in 1992 as the research arm of the then
Department of Agriculture (now Primary Industries
and Regions – PIRSA), the South Australian Research
and Development Institute (SARDI) brought together
researchers with deep connections to primary producers
on land and sea. Through its network of research stations,
field sites and laboratories embedded in regional and
rural communities across the state, SARDI has provided
applied and innovative research outcomes in response to
the experiences and challenges faced by South Australian
primary producers.
understanding of the chemical and physical composition
of Australian soils – some of the most ancient and stable
landscapes on the planet.
In its origin story, there could be no closer relationship
than the one between the original CSIR soils research
group and the University of Adelaide’s Waite Agricultural
Research Institute (WARI). Its first committee chair
was James A. Prescott, Professor of Agricultural
Chemistry at WARI, who oversaw the recruitment of
talented soil scientists that developed their research to
a level acknowledged internationally for its excellence.
Publications from researchers such as Clarence Sherwood
Piper became definitive soil chemistry texts globally.
While the research ranged from applied to theoretical,
the work was always purposeful. Surveying virgin lands
and agricultural areas, the team tackled everything from
soil erosion and, with the outbreak of WWII, testing soils
for the construction of airfields and the design of soilcement paving.
While the move to form a single government research arm
for agriculture, fisheries and ultimately natural resources
would take some adjustment, by 1995 various SARDI research teams were relocated to Waite, sharing knowledge and
resources and building important research collaborations.
The nature of its research is to tackle threats to primary
production and enhance the development of new production
opportunities. Its Waite campus facilities include the SARDI
Plant Research Centre (PRC), which functions as a hub for
a state-wide network of cutting-edge laboratories, research
centres and field sites.
The PRC facilities encompass 30 controlled-environment
rooms in which light levels, temperatures, and other
variables can be manipulated as needed; next-generation
greenhouses that can maintain a wide range of natural
environments; and bespoke laboratories where researchers
apply molecular diagnostics to entomology, plant pathology
and soil health tests, plus other trials and diagnostic services.
SARDI’s broad range of research specialties encompass
four key areas – aquatic sciences, crop sciences, food
sciences, and livestock sciences – supporting the state’s
leading primary industries and agribusinesses.
At the beginning of the 1960s, the Division had
specialisations in soil chemistry, minerology, physics,
mechanics, and microbiology, and had established
regional centres across the nation. But by the 1990s,
changes to funding models, research goals and structures
saw the Division transform again.
Heavily engaged in cooperative research with the University, the Department of Primary Industries and Regions,
and the South Australian Research and Development Institute among other collaborators, CSIRO became a proud
partner in the Waite precinct, where it continues to contribute to improved practices and outcomes in agriculture,
land and water use and mineral resources management
through its research.
CSIRO
Established by the Australian Government in 1927,
the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (later
to become CSIRO Division of Soils) had at its heart an
extremely practical imperative.
Veterans of WWI, having been granted land in the
Murray Valley, were battling significant soil deterioration.
Irrigated farmlands, suffering both waterlogging and
rising salinity, were becoming increasingly unproductive,
and the Division of Soils was tasked to fix it.
From that first mission in and around Renmark, CSIRO
researchers were set to play a vital role in improving our
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