The NSW Department of Primary Industries (DPI) Cowra Agricultural Research and Advisory Station is set to welcome a new addition, with the construction of a $1.9 million glasshouse.
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The glasshouse will allow researchers to control or manipulate the growing environment for new varieties of crops all year round.
Director General of NSW DPI, Scott Hansen said the glasshouse was part of a $100 million investment from the NSW Government in the department's research, technology and infrastructure.
"That's the most significant single investment we've had in the history of DPI investment and research and it comes at such a crucial time," he said.
"We continue to work on research projects and produce outcomes that help farmers that deal with the increasing frequency of drought."
Cowra DPI will be the second research station to house a glasshouse after Narrandera.
"The facilities that you see here today will make Cowra only the second of our research stations in the state with the unique capacity to carry out research on a new variety of harvesting crops 24 hours a day, seven days a week during all months of the year," Mr Hansen said.
"This will speed up our ability to bring new innovative technologies and genetics to our industry, to enable our industry to be able to be more resilient and be more productive."
DPI researcher Matthew Newell said the glasshouse will assist his current projects, which aim to increase the productivity and resilience of pastures.
"Projects that I'm involved with here in Cowra attracted about $16 million worth of research investment from across the industry and that has the opportunity to put $1 billion back into the red meat industry in terms of increased productivity," he said.
"That's mainly come through our projects working on increasing the legume content in pastures, so lifting productivity of pastures for producers.
"We've got other programs, working on increasing the resilience of pastures under variable climates, and that's coming through to our work with tropical perennial grass pastures, and also increasing the environmental sustainability of cropping through our work with perennial grains, which is a novel approach to agriculture which is only based here at Cowra DPI."
Member for Cootamundra, Steph Cooke, who toured the site, said the glasshouse would be a "world class, state of the art" facility.
"It's important we continue to invest in research and development, which is exactly what this facility is all about," she said.
"We also know when we build facilities like this, we're able to attract and retain the best and brightest minds and people to work in agriculture and work in our regions which is what we want to see continue happening."
Ms Cooke said the construction would also assist the local economy.
"It's a fantastic, short term stimulus measure at a time when our economies are getting back on their feet on the back of the COVID pandemic in 2020," she said.
The glasshouse is set for completion in February 2021.