Organic international links
by Kelly Stone
An exposure visit by scientists from Tamil Nadu Agricultural University to UniSA has paved the way for an ongoing international research partnership.
Five leading agricultural research scientists from Tamil Nadu Agricultural University in southern India recently spent six weeks at UniSA’s Mawson Lakes campus, studying carbon and nutrient dynamics in organic farming.
Dr A.K. Mani, Dr C. Ponniah, Dr R. Santhi, Dr S. Vijayabaskaran and Dr P. Dhevagi worked on campus and lived in the adjacent suburb of Mawson Lakes. They also undertook field visits to a 10,000-hectare organic farm near the Victorian border to look at ways of increasing soil health and farm productivity.
"This exposure visit was a great opportunity for UniSA to build a good relationship with these Indian researchers," said UniSA’s Chair of Environmental Science at the Centre for Environmental Risk Assessment and Remediation, Professor Nanthi Bolan.
"These scientists are leading scientists in their field… they bring leadership, they bring community engagement, and of course they bring quality research.
"We are keen to continue our relationship with Tamil Nadu Agricultural University and hope to send some PhD students over to Tamil Nadu later this year or early next year to undertake collaborative research."
The University is a leading agro-technology provider based in one of India’s highest producing agriculture regions. The main crops in Tamil Nadu include field crops such as rice, wheat, corn, cotton, sugar cane and peanuts, and horticulture crops such as onion, potato, cabbage, cauliflower, carrots, radish and beetroot. Dr Santhi said a user-friendly computer software for integrated fertiliser prescriptions based on soil tests, had been developed for these crops.
The main focus of the scientists’ collective research is a three-prong strategy – to maintain soil health, to increase production and to minimise cost. While organic farming is often the preferred farming method in Australia, in India it tends to be done by chance rather than choice.
"Here you have all the resources but the consumers are seeking quality residue-free products, so you are using high-cost organic input and producing high-quality organic produce," said Dr Vijayabaskaran.
The scientists visited Bolivar waste water treatment plant and fields at Virginia where the plant’s recycled water is used. Dr Ponniah said the system being practised in Australia was a good model and the scientists were planning to explore the possibilities to replicate it in India.
Tamil Nadu is typically tropical, with minimal organic matter and carbon – and hence low efficiency for applied inputs.
"The samples collected in South Australia will give an insight comparison between virgin soil and organic cultivation under greenhouse and pasture lands," the scientists said.
"The findings will help to understand the basic status of the soil carbon and nutrient dynamics. We hope to increase soil biophysical health and increase yields of good quality produce."
UniSA undertakes innovative research on sustainable management of natural resources such as recycled water irrigation to vineyards and urban green waste composting to produce value added soil amendments.
The visitors said the University’s analytical facilities and intellectual research experience had allowed them to gain knowledge in the fundamental aspects of sustainable management of these natural resources.