The South-West WA Drought Resilience Adoption and Innovation Hub (SW WA Hub) offers bursaries to university students who wish to incorporate grower group engagement into their research, facilitating the extension and adoption of new practices.
The Hub’s goal is to invest in collaborative research, development, extension, adoption and commercialisation activities to enhance the preparedness and resilience of primary producers and rural communities against future droughts.
The students can use the funds to engage with WA grower groups, develop participatory action research, and attend or present at workshops, field days, or conferences.
The program provides an exciting avenue for students to build their understanding of the need for ‘co-designed’ research to increase the adoption of research outcomes that can improve drought resilience.
The students have the opportunity to work with the Grower Group Alliance’s grower group network members so they can understand the importance of industry collaboration while gaining stronger experience and knowledge in extension practices for adoption and practice change.
The bursary program also enables the Hub to engage more deeply with WA universities, such as the University of Western Australia, Curtin University, Murdoch university and Edith Cowan University, which are among the Hub’s more than 50 valued consortium partners representing all sectors of the WA agricultural supply chain.
The SW WA Hub’s bursary program is led by the Hub’s Project Manager Kellie-Jane (KJ) Pritchard.
Current projects
Assessing the potential of native Australian legumes as grain crops
Exploring the potential of four legume species native to southwestern Australia as grain crops and pastures.
Lead: Curtin University
Farm to Port: understanding grain supply chain in WA
Investigating growers’ views and experiences concerning grain supply chains and related uncertainties in South-West Western Australia.
Lead: University of Western Australia (UWA)
Unravelling the impact of rhizosheath size on drought and nutrient use efficiency in wheat
Investigating the responses of wheat genotypes with contrasting rhizosheath size to drought and nitrogen and phosphorous supply when grown in acid soils with high alumininium content.
Lead: University of Western Australia (UWA)
Farm to Port: understanding grain supply chain in WA
Investigating growers’ views and experiences concerning grain supply chains and related uncertainties in South-West Western Australia.
Lead: University of Western Australia (UWA)
Completed projects
Views and positions of WA grain growers on grain traceability
Investigating grain growers’ perceptions and attitudes towards enhancing the traceability of grain’s sustainability credentials.
Lead: University of Western Australia (UWA)
Impact of farm-level management decisions on soil carbon content
Investigating the impact of farm-level management decisions on soil carbon content down to one metre on a WA Wheatbelt property.
Lead: University of Western Australia (UWA)
Optimising water quality for sustainable chemical applications
Assessing water quality used for chemical applications in agricultural production systems.
Lead: University of Western Australia (UWA)
impact of farm-level management decisions on soil carbon content
Investigating the impact of farm-level management decisions on soil carbon content down to one metre on a WA Wheatbelt property.
Lead: University of Western Australia (UWA)
