MILLIONS of additional funds have been allocated to Drought Resilience Adoption and Innovation Hubs to strengthen drought resilience and agricultural innovation.
The Drought Hub in Dookie, led by the University of Melbourne, will receive a $2.5M investment from the Federal Government to develop regionally focussed drought prevention strategies, technology, and responses.
The Dookie Drought Hub is one of eight established across the country in April this year through the Federal Government’s $5B Future Drought Fund.
The funding was announced by the Minister for Agriculture, David Littleproud, and Member for Nicholls, Damien Drum. They indicated that the Hubs are the key to unlocking the full potential of agricultural innovation systems.
“The Hubs will build connections between researchers, technology developers, investors, producers and agribusinesses to drive innovation and digital technology uptake across industry and the supply chain,” Mr Littleproud said.
Trialling new technologies and practices is a high priority as we head into summer. Above all else, these tailored programs facilitate unity in regional communities and improve overall knowledge of drought catastrophes.
Hub Co-Director, Professor Ruth Nettle said, “This new funding will allow us to focus even more on innovative solutions to allow our local agricultural industry to thrive in a changing climate, and in an increasingly competitive global agricultural marketplace.”
