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Tuesday, 16 December 2008 The release of a report in Canberra today which measures the economic, environmental and social returns from Rural Research and Development Corporations’ (RDC) investment in rural R&D has been welcomed by the rice industry. Rice Research and Development Committee (RRDC) Chairman, Ian Mason, said “One of the rice industry projects funded through Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation (RIRDC) was included in the evaluation. It showed that $162 million in public benefits had been derived from improved water-use efficiency in rice production. This has resulted from the expenditure of $2 million in research funds” Mr Mason said. A further welcome outcome is that it shows that there are many benefits achieved through the RDCs coordination of projects that specifically address both industry and government rural research priorities. Across all the projects included in the evaluation, the RDCs portfolio returned $11 for each dollar invested. Mr Mason said “Surely this is a compelling argument for all governments to continue to support and invest in ongoing core research in rural industries.” The report provides the results of the first year of an ongoing collective evaluation of the impact, effectiveness and return on investment from the RDCs. Most rice research funding is jointly funded by industry and the Federal Government and is delivered through the RIRDC. Mr Mason said “It is especially important that both industry and government have access to objective information about the effectiveness of their investments in rural research and development.” Mr Mason said that as well as the direct benefits to rural industries, the report shows that returns on highly successful projects alone will more than pay for the total investment by RDCs over the past 10 years. It also shows that there are significant social and environmental benefits for all of Australia from this investment. “This is good news for the rice industry which is struggling to maintain its R&D capacity in the face of ongoing drought and low water allocations” Mr Mason said. CONTACT |
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