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There is no facility
in Australia to generate field response data in grain crops to elevated CO2
and the Grains Research and Development Corporation in association
with the Australian Greenhouse Office called for expressions of interest to
develop a FACE facility to service the grains industry. The University of Melbourne and the
Victorian Department of Primary Industries developed a proposal that
includes a major FACE site at Horsham (Stage 1), and a plan to develop
smaller sites at either Walpeup in Victoria and also in Tasmania (Stage
2). The Tasmania site is to be done
in collaboration with the University of Tasmania (subject to funding). Additional partners and funding for the
project are currently being sought and the total value of the project is
around $6 million to establish and operate the network until 2010. Stage 1 has received funding of $2.9
million from the Grains Research & Development Corporation, the
Australian Greenhouse Office, the University of Melbourne and VicDPI as
well as support from BOC. The policy
background and planning for this facility is being led by the National
Committee on Elevated CO2 Research.
Timelines for Australian Grains FACE
December 2006
– Detailed plans and specifications developed, along with prototype
FACE systems
June 2007
– First year of field experimentation at Horsham (Stage 1).
June 2008
– Commissioning of a second site in Victoria (Stage 2) and a third
site to be decided
June 2009
– Negotiation and planning for additional sites located in NSW,
Queensland and Western Australia.
June 2010
– Current project ends, generating plant response data over 5 site
years.
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