Grain growers can expect a return of more than twenty dollars for every dollar invested in storage research, according to CSIRO's Joanne Daly.

Dr Daly, Chief of CSIRO Entomology, says that a recent independent cost-benefit analysis of CSIRO's research into stored grain predicted an annual return of $87 million for the Australian Grains industry.

"The survival of the grain industry in Australia is still fundamentally linked to its relationship with the grain storage industry," says Dr Daly.

Representatives of the Government, the grain industry and researchers are meeting in Canberra tonight to celebrate the signing of a new Stored Grain Research Agreement (SGRA).

"The new Agreement will provide opportunities for critical research on storage technologies," says Dr Daly. "It will focus on research that meets the needs of the grain industry."

The SGRA is for five years and is worth $9.25 million from the joint venture participants: CSIRO Entomology, AWB Limited, AusBulk Limited, Co-operative Bulk Handling Limited, and GrainCorp Operations Limited.

"Investment partnership between CSIRO and the Australian grain industry has been a key force in maintaining our grain at the forefront of the market through the development of soundly based, cost-effective and safe technologies in handling and storage," says Mr Andrew Lindberg, Managing Director of AWB Limited.

Mr Lindberg says the Australian grain industry must maintain its marketing edge and continue to deliver grain to the customer that is highly acceptable in all facets of quality.

In collaboration with its industrial partners, CSIRO Entomology has developed significant intellectual property in grain storage technologies. CSIRO's close association with AWB Limited and the Australian Bulk Handling Companies has facilitated the rapid rate at which many grain storage technologies have been developed and then adopted by the industry.

"Through this industry based research, Australian grain is being kept in the forefront of a very competitive world export market", says Mr Imre Mencshelyi, Chief Executive Officer Co-operative Bulk Handling Limited. "And the future looks promising, with the benefits from new developments in fumigant technology pioneered through this association, being far-reaching, both in Australia and world-wide".

Dr Geoff Garrett, CSIRO's Chief Executive Officer, describes the partnership between CSIRO Entomology and the Australian grain industry as one of the most productive associations with industry in the history of CSIRO.

"The recent independent benefit cost analysis estimated that CSIRO's partnership with the grain storage industry has returned benefits, since the 1970's to date, valued at over $759 million", says Dr Garrett.

Considerable benefits from CSIRO Entomology's research will continue to flow on to other industry sectors, especially private and on-farm storers of grain, value-added processors of foodstuffs, and the Australian and international scientific community.

Important synergies also exist between CSIRO's Flagship program Food Futures and the SGRA. Dr Bruce Lee, Director, emphasised that a major aim of Food Futures is to build on Australia's strong foundation of producing premium quality foods by developing innovative agrifood technologies and management systems.

Biosensing technologies being developed by Food Futures and grain storage and transfer processes being undertaken by SGRA, are examples of research to advance methods of ensuring high quality assurance in Australian grains.

"Biosensing has the potential to provide rapid to real-time monitoring of food quality, including grain", says Dr Lee. "The potential benefits to industry from credentialed identity preservation and quality assurance of grains and other foods are considerable".

"The potential of these technologies to add value to grain and processed products as they progress through the supply chain also offers significant marketing advantages to the Australian grain industry", says Dr Lee.