THE Council of Grain Grower Organisations Ltd (COGGO) has announced funding for six new projects to commence in Western Australia in 2020.

Wheat impacted by frost.

Established in 2000, the purpose of the Council of Grain Grower Organisations Ltd (COGGO) Research Fund is to invest in innovative new research and development projects from across the whole supply chain, and that can demonstrate a direct benefit to Western Australian grain growers.

Expressions of Interest for funding were received from 46 applicants from a cross section of industry, government, grower groups and research organisations.

This was up 50 per cent on the number of expressions of interest received in the previous year and demonstrates the demand for funding of small catalytic R&D projects of relevance to grain growers in WA.

The 2020 COGGO Research Fund will support six successful recipient organisations for a range of projects:

• Murdoch University ($150,000 over two years) “Development of non-GM frost-tolerant wheat for WA growers”.
• Dex Intelligence ($58,335 for one year) “AI for biosecurity”.
• Corrigin Farm Improvement Group ($121,125 over two years) “Maximising fallow rotations with a ‘Strip and Disc’ strategy to increase water use efficiency and subsequent crop yields across the wheatbelt region of Western Australia”.
• Facey Group ($135,000 over two years) “Canola establishment – is it improved through the application of wetters to the seed in marginal conditions?”.
• Bioscience Pty Ltd ($150,000 over two years) “Improving grains growth and yield using liquid potassium phosphate fertiliser.”
• Stirlings to Coast Farmers ($80,000 for one year) “Impact of stubble management on small conical snail mortality”.

“COGGO is pleased to be able to support these ground breaking research projects for the profitability and sustainability of the Western Australia grains industry”, COGGO chairman, Rhys Turton, said.

Rhys Turton

“We have a long history of providing catalytic funding for new R&D ideas and have seen many past recipients make a significant impact on returns for Western Australian grain growers,” he said.

“Our members voluntarily contribute 0.5 per cent of their own net farm-gate returns to which we are very grateful, this in turn then enables COGGO to fund new projects in the areas of plant breeding and associated research and development.”

Source: COGGO