University Events Calendar
October, 2012

Date/Time: Thursday, 15 October 2009, 4:00 pm
Location: Plant Genomics Centre, Waite Campus
Cost: FREE
More information: Visit website

School of Agriculture, Food & Wine Named Lecture Series: The A.E.V. Richardson Lecture 2009

Speaker: Dr R.A. (Tony) Fischer FAIAST FTSE AM, Honorary Research Fellow, CSIRO

Tony Fischer is a distinguished crop scientist who has been recognised previously for his contribution to wheat agronomy, crop physiology and genetic improvement through awards such as the C.M. Donald medal, the William Farrer memorial medal and membership to the Order of Australia. He has travelled widely in the developing world and has a particular interest in agricultural development. The title of the inaugural A.E.V. Richardson Lecture will be `What's happening to cereal yields globally?'. Cereal yield progress has been and will remain vital for moderating cereal price increases and feeding the world's poor adequately. The lecture will present recent progress in cereal yields (wheat, rice, maize) across a number of key growing locations in the world, seeking lessons particularly from the perspectives of breeding, agronomy and crop physiology. It will then discuss prospects for further yield growth, under the headings of yield gap closing and of yield potential increase. The roles of crop physiology, molecular biology and genetic engineering will be considered, as well as implications for natural resource use efficiency.

The inaugural A.E.V. Richardson Lecture is named in honour of the former foundation Professor of Agriculture and first Director of the Waite Agricultural Research Institute. Before joining the University of Adelaide in 1924, Professor Richardson was the Superintendent of Agriculture for Victoria and played a large role in establishing the School of Agriculture at the University of Melbourne. His direction of agricultural education and research continued during his time as Director of the Waite (1924 to 1938). He preached and practised a constant theme: advances in agricultural practice and increased productivity depended on scientifically based experimentation. Richardson's main fields of personal research were cereal agronomy, pasture research and wheat-breeding. From 1934 to 1946, Richardson was Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) and then Chief Executive Officer until his retirement in 1949. Richardson directed research and development in Australian primary production over the period of its most rapid growth. A.E.V. Richardson died in December 1949.

Contact: Dr Amanda Able (email), School of Agriculture, Food and Wine, University of Adelaide, Business: +61 8 8303 7245