CSIRO Plant Industry research improves agriculture, horticulture and natural resource sectors.

CSIRO Plant Industry

CSIRO Plant Industry conducts research to promote profitable and sustainable agrifood, fibre and horticultural industries, develop new plant products and improve natural resource management.

• 4 December 2007 | Updated 12 January 2012

• Visionary science
• Return on investment
• Doing business
• Strategically located
• Advanced facilities

CSIRO Plant Industry is one of the world’s leading research centres for plant science.

We have an annual budget of A$84.4 million and around 700 staff at nine sites around Australia.

One of the aims of CSIRO Plant Industry is to translate research into practical applications for all Australians and extend those applications internationally.

CSIRO Plant Industry can draw on expertise from across CSIRO to offer an effective, multidisciplinary research package.

By participating in the National Research Flagships for agribusiness and the environment, CSIRO Plant Industry contributes expertise to national research objectives. 

Visionary science

CSIRO Plant Industry’s research comprises 54 per cent long-term strategic research and 46 per cent short-term applied research.

This balance allows delivery of practical research outcomes underpinned by fundamental science to generate a platform for technology-driven solutions into the future.

Our research capabilities include:

• gene technology
• plant biology
• plant breeding
• farm management
• plant-microbe-soil interactions
• plant diseases and pests
• crop quality
• new products
• taxonomy and evolution
• conservation.

CSIRO Plant Industry’s science investment is in:

• agricultural crops including cotton, wheat and other grains, soybeans and other legumes, oilseeds and sugar.
• farm management and pastures.
• horticultural crops including wine, table and dried grapes, citrus, mangoes and macadamias.
• native plants.

Return on investment

An independent cost-benefit analysis showed CSIRO Plant Industry had an excellent return on investment:

• cotton research returns A$50 for every dollar invested.
• From an initial investment of A$4.5 million, the grazing software program Grazfeed returned A$309 million to the industry with 1 200 registered users.

Doing business

CSIRO Plant Industry has a history of strong business competence including intellectual property management.

Through tailored business arrangements and research alliances, we can deliver flexible and innovative research solutions for a range of industry needs.

CSIRO Plant Industry deals nationally and internationally with landholders, businesses, government, research groups and other organisations.

Strategically located

CSIRO Plant Industry is located close to the industries it supports allowing strong working relationships to be built with growers, industries and communities to target and deliver practical research outcomes. 

Advanced facilities

Fitted with advanced and unique equipment, CSIRO Plant Industry’s facilities support a broad range of plant science allowing it to deliver research results across the whole value-chain of production including:

• Laboratories: among the most sophisticated for plant sciences in Australia. Includes Australia’s only facility for micro-scale testing of dough properties and CSIRO’s Bioinformatics Facility, which is one of the largest dedicated bioinformatics computer clusters in Australia
  
  
• Plant growth facilities: among the largest and most sophisticated range of glasshouses and controlled environment facilities in the Southern Hemisphere – suitable for tissue cultured cells through to large plants
  
  
• Field sites: on dedicated research stations, in natural landscapes and on farm sites across Australia to take advantage of different environmental conditions and industry linkages.

Read about the CSIRO Plant Industry Chief Dr Jeremy Burdon.