AN investment increase in Australian agriculture’s research and development over the past ten years has contributed to productivity growth, competitiveness, and sustainability for Australian farmers.
ABARES (Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences) executive director Dr Jared Greenville said the rise in funding was a welcome sign for the agricultural sector, with private sector funding growing at a faster rate than public.
“Total agricultural research and development funding in 2020-21 was $2.20 billion, with an average annual growth rate of 4.35 per cent from 2011-12 to 2020-21,” he said.
“Private sector funding has grown at an average annual rate of 5.63 per cent from 2005-06 to 2021-22, exceeding the 2.02 per cent annual growth rate of public sector investment.
“The private sector has increased its share of total agricultural research and development funding from 29 per cent in 2005-06 to 42 per cent in 2020-21.
“While this is welcome news, one note of caution is that a lot of private sector investment relies on underpinning publicly funded research and development.”
Research and development investment enables the delivery of new technology and knowledge into the Australian agricultural system.
“Research and development continues to be a good investment, with our latest estimates indicating that $1 of investment generates a return of around $8 in agricultural gross value added,” Dr Greenville said.
“Given its impact on the agriculture sector, it’s important to measure and understand changes in research and development investment over time.”
