Media Statement - 28th January 2010
Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister, the Hon Anthony Byrne
MP, along with South Australian Premier the Hon Mike Rann MP, today officially
opened the Plant Accelerator at the University of Adelaide's Waite
Campus.
The Plant Accelerator will be a global leader in identifying plant improvements in areas like drought resistance, salt tolerance and crop yield improvements.
The Plant Accelerator is one of two nodes of the Australian Plant Phenomics Facility (APPF). The Plant Accelerator is a purpose built plant phenomics facility that includes a range of greenhouses, high-throughput imaging stations, growth rooms, laboratories and seed storage spaces.
The construction of the facility was made possible through $10 million in Australian Government funding through the National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS), $10 million from the South Australian Government and $6 million from the University of Adelaide.
Facilities like the Plant Accelerator "encourage our brightest minds to be innovative for us at home, and make Australian institutions attractive to overseas researchers" Mr Byrne said today.
"The Waite Campus has been involved in cutting edge research since it was established in the 1920s and this facility builds on this tradition.
"The Rudd Government's $10 million investment in the Plant Accelerator will assist in finding solutions to some of the world's long-term challenges including food security, drought and water shortages.
"A major leap forward will be realised through the synergising effect this facility will have - bringing together many of the researchers in the field," Mr Byrne said.
The facility will be made available to academic and commercial plant scientists to undertake public good and for-profit research to increase the breadth of research and opportunities available to scientists.