CSIRO and food production: securing our food future

Overview
CSIRO's international research
Crop research
Nutritious food that lasts longer
Limiting weeds and pests
Healthy and productive livestock
Oceans, fisheries and aquaculture
Sustainable agriculture and natural resource management

Healthy and productive livestock

Page 6 of 8

Almost three billion people worldwide have diets consisting of more than 15 per cent animal protein. Research supporting the productivity and growth of livestock is vital to securing the future supply of meat, dairy, eggs and other protein products while constraining greenhouse gas emissions.

Breakthroughs in breeding and production systems underpin Australia’s place as one of the world’s largest meat and livestock exporters.

CSIRO’s animal bioscience and technology aims to promote growth and increase competitiveness of the Australian livestock sector through:

improved production efficiency
more efficient use of nutrients and other resources, with effective strategies to reduce methane emissions and degradation of the natural environment
application of objective measures of animal welfare to the evaluation of management and husbandry practices
matching of products to expanding markets, particularly in developing countries.

Some examples of the work we do:

AAHL Regional Program

CSIRO Livestock Industries' Australian Animal Health Laboratory (AAHL) is supporting Southeast Asian countries in their efforts to control and eradicate infectious animal diseases.

Avian influenza activities at CSIRO's Australian Animal Health Laboratory

CSIRO’s Australian Animal Health Laboratory (AAHL) performs two vital functions to prevent avian influenza from spreading in birds – disease diagnosis and research.

Foot-and-mouth disease global initiative

CSIRO's Australian Animal Health Laboratory is actively involved in an international alliance aimed at developing new vaccines, diagnostic tests and antiviral drugs for foot-and-mouth disease.

Mitigation of disease impact through modification of the host response

CSIRO’s Mitigation of disease impact through modification of the host response research aims to develop novel strategies and products to limit the spread of major animal diseases.

Bovine genome decoded

Breakthrough research into the genetic blueprint of the domestic cow could lead to major improvements in Australia's farming industry.

Rural productivity

Our collaborative research is driving productivity gains in Australia’s northern cattle and southern sheep enterprises.

Exploring how to adapt dairy enterprises to climate change

CSIRO researchers are working with Australian dairy farmers in northern Victoria, to explore how they can adapt their enterprises to climate change.

CSIRO steps up fight against Foot and Mouth Disease

Australia has been free from Foot and Mouth Disease since 1872, but with recent reports of outbreaks in Japan and South Korea, CSIRO scientists are taking the fight off shore with a new research project in South-East Asia. (4:21)