CSIRO, Australia’s national science agency, has launched the STRAP project to test which regenerative agriculture practices help grain growers cope with an increasingly volatile climate. The project runs for five years and is led by researcher Mark Farrell.
Trials are taking place in South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales, with local farming groups that helped shape the questions. They will test intercropping, legumes as a nitrogen source, alternative fertilisers and integrating pasture into cropping.
Funding of almost A$8 million comes from the Australian Government’s Future Drought Fund. Researchers will measure soil health, greenhouse gas emissions, fertiliser and other input use, and the economic risk for farmers.
CSIRO is building data systems linked to artificial intelligence and geospatial platforms to analyse the results at scale. The aim, the team says, is to build solid evidence of what really works in the paddock.
