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Centre for Agriculture and the Bioeconomy

We bring together QUT’s expertise in agriculture and bioeconomy research to help feed the world sustainably and develop cleaner, greener bioproducts from agricultural wastes.

As environmental and economic conditions change, finding ways to support and grow Australia’s agricultural sector, maintain global food security and efficiently transform agricultural residues into high-value products is vitally important.

Our research is enabling farmers to grow more food with less resources, developing crops that are more nutritious and resistant to drought and pests, and discovering innovative ways to make renewable fuels, chemicals and other products from agricultural wastes.

The Centre for Agriculture and Bioeconomy is hosted by QUT's Institute for Future Environments.

What we do

How can we help farmers grow more food using less resources? How do we make our agricultural systems more resistant to climate change? Can agricultural waste be processed into valuable, renewable products? These are some of the research questions being investigated by the Centre for Agriculture and the Bioeconomy.

Better crops for all

We’re helping to feed the world by developing more resilient and nutritious tropical crops such as bananas, sugarcane, chickpeas, mungbeans, pigeonpeas, rice, sweet sorghum and tropical fruits for Australia, Africa and South-East Asia.

Creating a greener future

Our research is discovering innovative ways to manufacture renewable high-value fuels, chemicals, animal feeds and other bioproducts from agricultural wastes.

Sustainable agriculture

We’re generating knowledge and solutions to make Australia’s farms more sustainable and profitable, improving productivity and biodiversity through better management of crops, soil, water and energy.

Our directors

Professor Sagadevan Mundree

Director of the Centre for Agriculture and Bioeconomy (CAB), Professor Sagadevan Mundree led CAB’s predecessor, the Centre for Tropical Crops and Biocommodities, from 2016-2019. His research work focuses on making crops more nutritious and resistant to environmental stresses such as drought, salinity and pests.

View Professor Sagadevan Mundree's profile

Professor Ian O'Hara

Professor Ian O’Hara is Deputy Director of CAB. His key research areas include industrial biotechnology, biofuels and bioenergy, biorefining and process engineering. Ian was responsible for the development of QUT’s Mackay Renewable Biocommodities Pilot Plant, and has served as Queensland’s first Biofutures Industry Envoy since 2016.

View Professor Ian O'Hara's profile

About us

Our vision is to create a more profitable, sustainable and resilient future for agricultural and bioeconomy systems in Australia and around the world.

We combine expertise in crop biotechnology and genomics, sustainable agriculture, industrial biotechnology, bioprocessing and synthetic biology with world-class research infrastructure, such as the Central Analytical Research Facility and our pilot plants at Banyo and Mackay, which enable research that can be scaled from the laboratory all the way to large-scale industrial settings.

The Centre for Agriculture and Bioeconomy contributes to solutions for Australia’s national science and research priorities, including:

  • optimising food and fibre production and minimising waste
  • maintaining Australia's strategic assets in soil, vegetation, biodiversity and water low-emission technologies for transport
  • building Australia's competitiveness in specialised, high value-add manufacturing areas such as high-performance materials, composites and polymers.

Research news

4 June

‘Missing Middle’ offers new approach to housing

The days of urban McMansions are numbered and a QUT architecture lecturer says the solution to more flexible, affordable housing lies between a large home and a unit – the ‘missing middle’.

3 June

Human hair used to make flexible displays for smart devices

QUT researchers have teamed up with a Brisbane barbershop in ground-breaking research to turn human hair waste into flexible displays that could be used in future smart devices.

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Our research

Biorefining
Animal production
Future farming

Contact us

3138 1655