About
The La Trobe Institute for Sustainable Agriculture and Food (LISAF) is a world-class research institute for seed production, food and health.
Our work
We aim to streamline the development, growing and testing of desirable traits in cereal and legume grains. Through this we:
- generate enduring profitability for grain growers
- deliver real benefits for the community (including regional) and economy
- train the next generation agri-food sector employees.
We strive to address complex constraints and threats to on-farm production and profitability and to develop 'fit for purpose grains'.
By creating higher yield and improved quality grains we will help increase Australia's:
- agricultural productivity
- profitability
- health
- wealth.
We work to identify constraints and threats to production and profitability. We address these constraints by using multi-disciplinary teams investigating a combination of:
- plant and soil sciences
- agronomy
- nutritional bioengineering of grains.
This opportunity will be realised through:
- collective intellectual capital (technical expertise)
- physical infrastructure (AgriBio building)
- regional campuses
- innovative solutions developed in partnership with the agriculture sector, food industries, government and other research institutions
- research and innovation precinct offering unique partnering opportunities.
The need for LISAF
With an increasing global population, 69% more food calories will be needed to feed 9.6 billion people by 2050. Increases in food-related illness combined with the need for more nutritional food, to feed a growing population, is a looming global challenge.
Australian agricultural production is worth $62 billion p.a., while the cost of food related illness is $73 billion p.a. highlighting the need to integrate agriculture and health.
Support for LISAF
La Trobe University has made a strategic $25 million cash commitment over five years for LISAF to leverage further matched funding to support basic and translational research and research training in the agri-food sector.
La Trobe’s visionary investment in the $288 million world-class AgriBio building has cemented its reputation in agriculture and food biosciences, creating a platform for further investment in intellectual capital that will support LISAF.