Happy autumn

CRICHTONA — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 23:10:54 +0000

‘Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness,
Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;
Conspiring with him how to load and bless
With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eves run;
To bend with apples the moss'd cottage-trees,
And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core;
To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells
With a sweet kernel; to set budding more,
And still more, later flowers for the bees,
Until they think warm days will never cease,
For Summer has o'er-brimm'd their clammy cells’. JOHN KEATS.

Pretty much the whole CRC in there, maybe rather more for HAL than for GRDC and we’re still waiting for a buzz from the bee hive, but the message is a good one. We are busily harvesting the produce from the seed that has been sown and cultivated with care over the past couple of years.

As noted in my February ‘Leaflet’ message, ‘the three Cs’ (the CEO, the Chief Operating Officer and the Chairman) have been ‘doing the rounds’ of Participants in the interest of promoting ‘buy-in’ and good communication as the start of the PBCRC draws nearer. Nick has probably had the most taxing time (no pun intended) as he has dealt with queries around, in particular, the Participants Agreement. He has now sent out the ‘final, positively the last, no further correspondence will be entered into version’. Thanks Nick.

As part of this process, we were pleased to welcome Dr Trevor Nicholls, CEO of CABI, to the Canberra office for discussion of remote diagnostics and how these will meld with CABI’s ‘Plantwise’ program in Africa and elsewhere. During his visit to Australia Dr Nicholls discussed ‘Plantwise’ and the PBCRC’s role with AusAID and The Crawford Fund.

New international linkages continue to loom large in the PBCRC agenda. In early March, Nick and I had very positive meetings with staff of the Bioprotection Research Centre (BRC) at Lincoln University, New Zealand and with Plant and Food Research (PFR), New Zealand. The BRC has excellent facilities, including its ‘Biotron’ where invasive pests and diseases can be studied in high security conditions, while PFR has more than 900 staff based at sites across New Zealand, as well as in the USA and Australia. Its mandate covers marine as well as terrestrial systems. In addition to its New Zealand presence, PFR is well connected within the global research community and is involved in a significant number of overseas partnerships, strengthened by an international business team and overseas offices.

Just prior to Easter I visited our new colleagues at the Pacific Institute for Sustainable Development in Manado, Indonesia. Like PFR, the Institute has good international linkages, already collaborating with Canadian and EU entities. As well as attracting research resources, North Sulawesi is becoming a magnet for tourists, not least eco-tourists, and is a most attractive location. It is also, in a biosecurity sense, at peculiar risk as the economy depends on maintaining a pristine aquatic environment; unique terrestrial ecosystems, and plant-based production systems – including some in, for example, the spice trade, which are almost unique.

BRC, PFR and the Pacific Institute – along with their international colleagues – will be well represented at the Science Exchange (SX) and we look forward to them making the most of the networking opportunities which will be afforded there.

On present indications the SX will be a ‘full house’, in terms of program content and accommodation. This speaks volumes for the reputation which the event has built up in recent years and for the intense interest in both the accomplishments of the CRCNPB and the establishment of the PBCRC.

No doubt gastronomic excess will also feature at the SX so, remember: ‘Life is uncertain – eat dessert first’. Anon. [Sydney Morning Herald, November 2011].

Back to The Leaflet.

CRC for Plant Biosecurity - chairman's message

Happy autumn