Agricultural education in Australia was in the doldrums for several decades in the latter part of the 20th Century and more recently. Some of this can be attributed to poor industry leadership, particularly in relation to recognition of the value of education and training in the sector. Consequently, agriculture lost community respect and was not seen by the emerging generation as the industry sector of choice for careers. For most of this Century there has been a concerted effort to change the public perception of the sector and the causal dynamics involved and it is pleasing to report that agriculture has been ‘rebooted’ to a positive paradigm with an encouraging outlook. The circumstances for the fall and rise of agriculture comprise the basis for this paper.

Herbicide resistance is a common occurrence in southern Australia. The evolution of herbicide resistance is influenced by the selection pressure placed on the weed species controlled by that herbicide. Results from resistance screening of ~4500 annual ryegrass (Lolium rigidum Gaud.) samples were entered in a GIS database, together with several agricultural parameters used in the Australian Bureau of Statistics Agricultural Surveys. This allowed a study of the associations between mode of action of resistance, geographic distribution of resistance across southern Australia, and farming practices employed in particular regions. Cultivation was negatively associated with resistances in acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACCase)-inhibiting cyclohexanedione and acetolactate synthase (ALS)-inhibiting herbicides. Higher proportions of wheat sown were associated with higher incidences of resistance. ACCase-inhibiting aryloxyphenoxypropionate and cyclohexanedione and ALS-inhibiting resistances were higher in those shires where soils were predominantly acidic. This study demonstrates the association between farm practice and the evolution of herbicide resistance. The analysis provides reinforcement to the principle of rotating chemical modes of action with non-chemical weed control measures to minimise the risk of herbicide resistance evolution in any farming system.

Charles Sturt University has operated a commercial herbicide resistance testing service since 1991, following a random survey of the South West Slopes region of New South Wales that identified significant incidence of herbicide resistance in annual ryegrass (Lolium rigidum Gaud.). Other surveys of cropping regions of southern Australia conducted at that time also found a significant incidence of resistance. In the subsequent 25-year period, the testing service has received samples from the majority of the southern Australian cropping belt. Overall, 80% of samples tested were resistant to acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACCase) inhibiting aryloxyphenoxypropionate and phenylpyrazole herbicides, 56% to acetolactate synthase (ALS) inhibiting herbicides, and 24% to ACCase-inhibiting cyclohexanedione herbicides. The incidences of resistance to inhibitors of photosynthesis at PSII, tubulin-formation inhibitors, and 5-enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate (EPSP) synthase inhibiting herbicides have remained <10% of samples tested. The relationships between many herbicide groups and subgroups are discussed, as is the variability in resistance incidence and the forms of cross or multiple resistance for each state. This paper builds on an earlier publication of 14 years of testing history. At >5000 samples, the size and geographical spread of this dataset allows for valuable analyses of the relationships present in herbicide-resistant populations of annual ryegrass.

Destinations of agriculture graduates from Australian universities and Marcus Oldham College were considered using the database of the GradLink program operated by Rimfire Resources for the period 2004-2014. This accounted for around 1000 graduates or one in six graduates for the period and comprised a gender balance similar to that of enrolled students during the period of study. The employment market was buoyant for the period. Around half the graduates were employed in the country and one third in the cities. Institutions with rural campuses had much higher proportions remain in rural employment. Rural finance and sales were the most common employment categories. Around 10% went back to farm production and 9% left the sector. Both genders were employed in all sectors and no gender bias was identified. Proportions of graduate employment categories varied according to institution although there was reasonable consistency in employment spread.

Annual ryegrass (Lolium rigidum Gaud.) is a troublesome invasive plant in southern Australian cropping systems and is typically infected with a fungal endophyte, Epichloë occultans. Potential links between herbicide resistance and endophyte infection were investigated in this study. We surveyed 391 ryegrass populations from geographically distinct, naturalised pasture and cropping areas across southern Australia and compared frequencies of seed-borne endophyte infection in the collected seed samples from mature annual ryegrass. Data on herbicide resistance from similar seedlots were cross-referenced with endophyte infection frequency to examine the potential relationship between herbicide resistance and endophyte infection. Seeds from cropping paddocks exhibited a significantly higher frequency of endophyte infection than pasture paddocks sampled from the same region. Frequencies of endophyte infection in annual ryegrass declined across Australia during 2001–09, whereas the opposite trend was observed during 2009–12. Impacts of the Australian Millennium Drought, the correspondingly altered rainfall patterns and environmental selection pressures have a role in determining observed endophyte infection frequencies. However, there was no significant correlation between endophyte frequency and herbicide resistance in the populations evaluated. Differences in endophyte infection frequencies were associated with farming practices, and require further examination to determine causative selection pressures encountered in Australian field settings.

Rapeseed (canola, Brassica napus L.) is the second major oilseed crop of the world and provides a source of healthy oil for human consumption, meal for stock markets and several other by-products. Several weed species afflict the sustainable production and quality of canola. Various agronomic practices such as crop rotation, stubble management (e.g. burning), minimum tillage, application of herbicides and cultivation of herbicide resistant varieties have been deployed to minimise yield losses. There is no doubt that herbicide-tolerant cultivars enable management of weeds which are difficult to control otherwise. However, widespread usage increases the risk of herbicide resistance. This is becoming a major impediment in sustaining high crop productivity. Allelopathic and weed competitive varieties are potential tools to reduce the dependence on herbicides and could be grown to suppress weed growth in commercial canola. Genetic variation and ‘proxy’ traits involved in both crop competition as well as allelopathy have been reported. Further research is required to link genetic variation in weed competition and allelopathy, and genetic/genomicmarker technologies to unravel effective alleles to expand breeding activity for weed interference in canola.

Crop protection is the science and practice of managing plant diseases, weeds and other pests. Weed management and control are important given that crop yield losses caused by pests and weeds are high. However, farmers face increased complexity of weed control due to evolved resistance to herbicides. This paper first presents a brief review of some significant research efforts in crop protection using Big data with the focus on weed control and management followed by some potential applications. Some machine learning techniques for Big data analytics are also reviewed. The outlook for Big data and machine learning in crop protection is very promising. The potential of using Markov random fields (MRF) which takes into account the spatial component among neighboring sites for herbicide resistance modeling of ryegrass is then explored. To the best of our knowledge, no similar work of modeling herbicide resistance using the MRF has been reported. Experiments and data analytics have been performed on data collected from farms in Australia. Results have revealed the good performance of our approach.

Alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) genotypes at varying densities were investigated for allelopathic impact using annual ryegrass (Lolium rigidum) as the target species in a laboratory bioassay. Three densities (15, 30, and 50 seedlings/beaker) and 40 alfalfa genotypes were evaluated by the equal compartment agar method (ECAM). Alfalfa genotypes displayed a range of allelopathic interference in ryegrass seedlings, reducing root length from 5 to 65%. The growth of ryegrass decreased in response to increasing density of alfalfa seedlings. At the lowest density, Q75 and Titan9 were the least allelopathic genotypes. An overall inhibition index was calculated to rank each alfalfa genotype. Reduction in seed germination of annual ryegrass occurred in the presence of several alfalfa genotypes including Force 10, Haymaster7 and SARDI Five. A comprehensive metabolomic analysis using Quadruple Time of Flight (Q-TOF), was conducted to compare six alfalfa genotypes. Variation in chemical compounds was found between alfalfa root extracts and exudates and also between genotypes. Further individual compound assessments and quantitative study at greater chemical concentrations are needed to clarify the allelopathic activity. Considerable genetic variation exists among alfalfa genotypes for allelopathic activity creating the opportunity for its use in weed suppression through selection.

This chapter follows the development of conservation tillage systems for south-eastern Australia. Vigorous research and extension programs have resulted in the development of necessary herbicides, introduction of grain legume crops, improved levels of soil fertility and crop establishment techniques which do not use cultivation. The soils of the Riverine Plain are on alluvial material, but plains and some slopes are covered with a wind-deposited mantle on which the surface soils are formed. Overgrazing and trampling by hard-hoofed animals, followed by tree clearing, ploughing for crops, and long fallowing all resulted in loss of structure and fertility of soil. The Direct Drilling cropping system allowed land to be used for grazing up until sowing time, which is economically important for mixed farms in this area. In south-eastern Australia all cropping systems now rely increasingly on grain legumes for inputs of nitrogen and for a cereal disease break. The development of conservation tillage however, does provide positive contributions to these environmental considerations.

Education in agriculture has evolved in conjunction with the rest of the education system. In some ways it has a special place in the system while in other ways agriculture missed the boat in not t...

The challenge of feeding the world is well known. The challenge increases significantly if population projections of 9.3 billion by 2050 are realised. Horticulture, therefore, must play its part and there are great opportunities for the industry. Taking advantage of such opportunities however will require significant increases in productivity, uptake of technology and environmental management at levels much higher than hitherto has been needed. A highly educated and skilled workforce therefore becomes an imperative in order to achieve the necessary productivity gains. The task for horticulture is to re-fashion its image, create career paths for newcomers and work smarter not harder. An appropriate workforce will only occur if prospective employees find attraction to the careers on offer in the industry. That includes the industry valuing education and training and the associated qualifications. In Australia, these issues have been the focus of attention more generally and the industry has the challenge ahead to entice the next generation of horticulturists into its fold.