Farming systems, soils and agronomy
Domain Leader: Professor Caixian Tang
Climate change and the increasing frequency of catastrophic weather events are impacting sustainable farming systems. Farming systems need to be profitable, socially acceptable and environmentally robust.
How is our research addressing this challenge?
Our mission is to develop innovative on-farm solutions, better crop establishment and growth, and sustainable management of soil.
Addressing soil related constraints such as acidity, non-wetting and compaction
Prof Caixian Tang has been working on management of soil constraints and nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus. He studies the adaptations of grain legumes to alkaline soils, causes and management of soil acidification/ acidity in farming systems, the role of organic matter in soil pH change and in amelioration of soil acidity and subsoil constraints, screening wheat genotypes for tolerance to soil acidity, and the impacts of farming practices on soil carbon sequestration.
Prof Tang is part of a new Grains Research and Development Corporation investment to explore the capabilities of different crops and varieties to overcome high strength soils.
Plant Protein Atlas
The aim of this BioPlatforms Australia funded research project is to construct an atlas for faba bean to collect information that will be available for a number of end-uses. We collect data on variety, growth locations, soil, management of the crop, yield and seed characteristics.