Section 2 - Sugar Research and Development Corporation

12
INDUSTRY PROFILE
Sucrogen sale
The sale of Sucrogen to Wilmar International
Limited, one of Asia’s leading agribusiness groups,
was fi nalised in early December 2010.
Industry Research Forum
On 30 March 2011, SRDC hosted an Industry
Research Forum at the Queensland University
of Technology in Brisbane with more than
55 attendees. The forum provided a research
update from the milling, growing and harvesting
sectors and presentations by presentations by
Annette Sugden from SRDC, Mark Dowling from
Sugar Research Limited, Dr Frikkie Botha from
BSES Limited and Joe Muscat from Grower
Group Services.
Award winners
National Sustainability Award
Nominated by SRDC, third generation cane
growers John, Bryan and Terry Granshaw were
presented with the National Sustainability Award
during the 2010 National Farmers Federation’s
Innovation in Agriculture Awards at the national
congress held in Melbourne in September 2010.
Young Science and Innovation Award
Sugarcane researcher Dr Thomas Rainey
received the SRDC Award at the 2011 Science
and Innovation Awards for Young People in
Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry at the ABARES
Outlook conference in March 2011.
SRDC Annual Report 2010–2011
Australian Farmer of the Year Awards 2010
NSW sugarcane grower Angus Stainlay was a
fi nalist in the Young Farmer of the Year category
for his ingenuity, passion and commitment to take
Australian farming into the future and Duranbah
sugarcane grower Robert Quirk was a worthy
fi nalist of the Farm Industry Leader Award for his
outstanding contribution to agriculture beyond the
farm gate.
Review of People Development Arena
The SRDC commissioned a review to assess the
effectiveness and impact of projects funded under
the People Development Arena (PDA). The review
found it contributed strongly to the relevant key
deliverables of the R&D plan and that PDA projects
have targeted key areas including: participation of
women; younger farmer development: research
and extension staff skills; leadership, business and
management skills; accredited technical training;
social and adoption research; and improving
regional structures and cooperation. No clear gaps
were identifi ed in topic areas.
The review found some evidence of improved
capacity and capability in the individuals engaged
by the projects resulting in a combination of social,
productivity, economic and environmental impacts.
In addition, improved networking between regions,
groups and sectors and improvements in regional
arrangements has led to benefi cial changes in the
operation of the industry (SRD027).
Cane growers from the Burdekin region Bryan and Terry Granshaw. Granshaw Farming won
the National Sustainability Award presented during the 2010 National Farmers Federation Congress.