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Current SUNFix projects

The SUNFix Centre for Nitrogen Fixation is currently involved in the following projects:

Australian Research Council DP0771664: Biofertiliser technology for improved yields and environmental sustainability for rice and wheat crops

In the coming decades, the global demand for food risks outstripping supply, and only considerable increases in yields of the major cereal crops will avert a crisis. We will deliver novel technology for using growth-promoting microbes as natural fertilisers for wheat and rice, by combining bacterial genomics with new methods of detecting and regulating the presence of beneficial microbes. This will lead to major improvements in crop yields and reduced environmental insult, and will be a significant and lasting contribution to the world’s food security.

This international ARC Discovery project involved Ivan Kennedy working for 3 months with Igor Zhulin’s group at the University of Tennessee-Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Knoxville. The project involved the completion of the genome of Azospirillum brasilense held in the ORNL’s genomic database. As a result of this collaboration, an expression microarray has been designed by Nimblegen, Iceland and is available for cooperative research worldwide. Participating institutions include the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, USA, the University of Leuven, Belgium, EMBRAPA, Seropedica, Brazil and the University of Lyon, France.

Personnel

Ivan R.Kennedy, CI (SUNFix)
Mihály L. Kecskés, Postdoctoral Fellow (SUNFix)
Igor Zhulin, PI, (Oak Ridge National Laboratory, University of Tennessee, USA)
Lily Pereg-Gerk, Associate (University of New England)
Ganisan Krishnen, PhD Student
Khanokon Amprayn, PhD Student

Funding period

January 2007 – December 2009

World Bank Development Marketplace DM 5227: Sustaining nitrogen-efficient rice production

The inefficient use of chemical fertilizers in rice cultivation in Vietnam represents a huge economic and environmental challenge. The price of nitrogen fertilizer is linked to oil prices, and has tripled over the last two years. This directly impacts profits and food prices for the rural poor of whom over 30 percent live in the Mekong Delta and South Central Coast regions. Moreover, nitrogen unused by crops enters the environment, polluting water resources and contributing to greenhouse gas emissions.

Attempts to improve nitrogen use efficiency by reducing fertiliser following the ‘three reductions, three gains’ program have had little success. However, a recent pilot extension project in the Mekong Delta with a biofertilizer product called BioGro suggests that a solution with commercial growth potential is at hand. Providing biofertilizer production in the Mekong Delta and the South Central Coast of Vietnam will create jobs, increase ownership, enable feedback between producers and farmers and reduce dependency on imported chemical fertilizers.

This new project, funded by the World Bank, aims to improve farmers’ income and environmental health in the Mekong Delta and the South Central Coast of Vietnam by providing biofertilizer technology that reduces chemical contamination whilst maintaining or increasing rice yields. The project will establish an integrated production-supply-extension chain to ensure a reliable and affordable biofertilizer product, that can be used as a future model for agricultural research commercialisation.

Personnel

Ivan R. Kennedy, CI (SUNFix)
Michael Rose, Postdoctoral Fellow (SUNFix)
Rosalind Deaker, Postdoctoral Fellow (SUNFix)
Sally Marsh, University of Western Australia
Phan Thi Cong, Institute of Agricultural Sciences (Vietnam)
Tran Thanh Be, Cantho University (Vietnam)
Nguyen Thanh Hien, Biofertilizer Action Research Center (Hanoi)

Funding period

January 2009 – December 2011

ACIAR LWR2/2002/073: Efficient Nutrient Use in Rice Production in Vietnam Achieved Using Inoculant Biofertilisers

The objectives are (i) to establish the application of inoculant biofertilisers for rice as reliable technology, and (ii) to foster its extension to a larger scale, by studying the implications of its economic, social and environmental benefits and the conditions favouring its adoption. The outputs of the project are (i) an improved range of germ plasm for biofertiliser products and knowledge of the basis of their agronomic effectiveness, (ii) advanced quality control of the biofertiliser technology, and (iii) enhanced economic and social capacity regarding its application. Since the basis of the PGPR (plant growth promoting rhizobacteria) effect is to improve the efficiency of utilisation of soil nutrients for crop growth, it is anticipated that there will be substantial environmental benefits as a result of reduced losses of N from denitrification as nitrous oxide and by leaching as nitrate. The potentials for these benefits will be assessed during the project.

Personnel

Ivan R. Kennedy, SUNFix
Rodney J. Roughley, Honorary Associate (SUNFix)
Sally Marsh, Consultant
Laurie Lewin, Yanco Rice CRC
Mihály L. Kecskés, Postdoctoral Fellow (SUNFix)
Rosalind Deaker, Postdoctoral Fellow (SUNFix)
Nguyen Thanh Hien, Hanoi University of Science (Vietnam)
Phan Thi Cong, Institute of Agricultural Sciences (Vietnam)
Tran Thanh Be, Cantho University (Vietnam)
Pham Van Toan, National Institute Soils & Fertilisers (Vietnam )

Funding period

January 2004 – December 2011

GRDC DAN00097: National independent quality assurance and germplasm maintenance for Rhizobium inoculants

Inoculation of legumes with rhizobia is one of the success stories of Australian agriculture. Farmers inoculate about 25 million ha sown legumes annually, using certified, high-quality inoculants. Legumes growing on 25 million ha of land fix about 3 million tonnes N annually, worth $3 billion. All of that N can be attributed to current and past inoculation. The QA system for Rhizobium inoculants, operating for almost 50 years, needs to respond to new developments in inoculant formulations and manufacturing and to ensure that Australian farmers continue to have access to high-quality products. This project aims to:

  1. Assess quality of legume (Rhizobium) inoculants at the point-of-sale and report outcomes to farmers and the industry
  2. Maintain Rhizobium germplasm for current and future legume inoculants
  3. Develop diagnostic tools for improving speed and accuracy of QA of inoculants including preinoculated legume seed

The work at SUNFix relates to determining optimum conditions during the process of seed pre-inoculation and storage prior to sale. Evidence suggests that the careful selection of polymer adhesives for application of legume inoculant and pelleting material to seed is critical to survival. The research at SUNFix aims to determine properties of polymers that improve rhizobial survival, including moisture sorption and film formation, so that a more rational approach to pre-inoculated seed production may be adopted.

Personnel

Rosalind Deaker, Research Fellow (SUNFix)
Greg Gemell, Technical Officer (NSW DPI)
Elizabeth Hartley, Technical Officer (NSW DPI)

Funding period

July 2005 – June 2010

GRDC GRS135: Physiological tolerance mechanisms of rhizobia in response to desiccation

Desiccation has been identified as a major factor affecting the success of inoculation of legumes (particularly via seed coating) with rhizobia. Rhizobial species vary in their response to desiccation.

The research aims to determine the physiological mechanisms involved in desiccation tolerance of rhizobia. Such mechanisms include the intracellular accumulation of compatible solutes, ATP pooling, production of stress-proteins and morphological changes to the cell membrane.

It is intended that conditions will be defined that encourage desirable physiological changes in rhizobial cells during growth and storage. Such information will be instructive for the future development of inoculant products so that survival will be optimised during application to seed and soil.

Personnel

Andrea Casteriano, PhD Student (SUNFix)
Rosalind Deaker, Research Fellow (SUNFix)
Meredith Wilkes, Lecturer Food Chemistry (FAFNR)

Funding period

February 2008 – February 2011

AusAID CARD 013/06VIE: Replacing fertiliser N with rhizobial inoculants for legumes in Vietnam for greater farm profitability and environmental benefits

Farmers in Vietnam currently fertilise legumes such as soybean and groundnut with N, rather than inoculate with rhizobia. Replacing fertiliser N with rhizobial inoculants would save Vietnamese farmers A$50-60 million annually in input costs and, at the same time, help facilitate the desired expansion in legume production. There would also be positive environmental outcomes with replacement of fertiliser N with legume-derived N. This project aims to increase production of high-quality legume inoculants in Vietnam through enhanced production capacity at the National Institute for Soils and Fertilisers (NISF) and Can Tho University (CTU), implementation of a national quality assurance program at the Oil Plants Institute (OPI) and the Institute of Agricultural Science (IAS), and increased inoculant R&D.

To initiate the project, a workshop on quality control of legume inoculants was held in early 2007 at the Institute of Agricultural Science in Ho Chi Minh City. The workshop was designed to provide participants with an overview of the requirements and protocols for quality control of legume inoculants. The aim of the workshop was to improve skills of Vietnamese scientists so that legume inoculants in Vietnam can be routinely measured for quality. It is expected that understanding the parameters of quality may improve inoculant production techniques and increase availability and adoption of high quality legume inoculants in Vietnam. The protocols presented were based on the quality control program used by the Australian Legume Inoculant Research Unit (ALIRU) in Australia. The workshop was designed by ALIRU staff and presented by Elizabeth Hartley, Greg Gemell (ALIRU) and Rosalind Deaker (University of Sydney). A major outcome for the project was a comprehensive workbook and procedures manual produced by ALIRU staff for the workshop that will be used to implement a QC program for legume inoculants in Vietnam.

Personnel

Tran Yen Thao, Oil Plants Institute, Vietnam)
Pham Van Bien, Institute of Agricultural Science (Vietnam)
Nguyen Huu Hiep, Can Tho University (Vietnam)
Pham Van Toan, National Institute for Soils and Fertilisers (Vietnam)
David Herridge, Principal Research Scientist (NSW DPI)
Rosalind Deaker, Research Fellow (SUNFix)
Elizabeth Hartley, Technical Officer (NSW DPI)
Greg Gemell, Technical Officer (NSW DPI)

Funding period

March 2007 – March 2009