Corporate Body

CSIR/O Division of Plant Industry (1929 - c. 2014)

Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation

From
1929
Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia
To
c. 2014
Functions
Industrial or scientific research and Plant science
Website
https://web.archive.org/web/20240000000000*/http://www.pi.csiro.au
Reference No
CA 4464
Legal Status
Agency of the Commonwealth of Australia
Location
Canberra, Australian Capital Territory

Summary

The CSIR/O Division of Plant Industry took the place of the Division of Economic Botany in 1929. Although sections of the Division have broken away to form new Divisions, the Division of Plant Industry continued to operate at the start of the 21st century. When the CSIRO restructure c.2014 occurred the activities of the Division were transferred to the Flagship / Business Unit: "Agriculture and Food".

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Details

From "CSIRO research for Australia" (1962) pdf pages 18-20:
"The Division of Plant Industry is both the oldest and the largest of C.S.I.R.O. Divisions. In the early days it was called the Division of Economic Botany, and consisted of a number of research workers scattered around Australia, housed in the laboratories of various universities and Departments of Agriculture. The Chief was Dr. B. T. Dickson, who came out to Australia from Canada, where he had been Professor of Plant Pathology at McGill University. After Dr. Dickson retired in 1950, Dr. 0. H. Frankel F.R.S., came from New Zealand's Wheat Research Institute to take the Chief's position.

In 1930 new laboratories were built in Canberra for the Divisions of Plant Jndustry and Entomology. Since that time the buildings have been extended, glasshouses have been built, and a major new research facility for growing plants in a range of controlled conditions, sometimes called a "phytotron", has been constructed. The Division of Plant Industry's work encompasses genetics and plant breeding, plant introduction, microbiology, general chemistry, plant nutrition, plant biochemistry and biophysics, ecology, agricultural physics and agronomy. Pastures and special crops are studied at field stations and laboratories in Western Australia, Tasmania, New South Wales and Queensland. Canberra, with over a hundred plant scientists, has become one of the largest pla_nt research centres in the world. Much
of the Division's work is designed to serve the needs of the sheep industry, which is contributing substantially to the cost of the research programme through the Wool Research Trust Fund."

"The Division has grown steadily over the years as more and more crucial problems in Australian agriculture have come to light. Two other Divisions, Land Research and Regional Survey, began as groups within the Division of Plant Industry. The work of the Division has been brought to bear on almost every part of Australia's expanding primary industry."

In 2014 the Plant Industry website stated:
"Plant Industry promotes profitable and sustainable agrifood, fibre and horticultural industries, developing new plant products and improving how plants use natural resources through world-leading research."

Timeline

 1920 - 1962 Commonwealth Research Station, Merbein Victoria - CSIR/O
       1962 - 1967 CSIRO Horticultural Research Section
             1967 - 1988 CSIRO Division of Horticultural Research
                   1927 - 1929 CSIR Division of Economic Botany
                   1988 - 1997 CSIRO Division of Horticulture
                         1929 - c. 2014 CSIR/O Division of Plant Industry
                               1959 - 1973 CSIRO Division of Tropical Pastures
                                     1973 - 1976 CSIRO Division of Tropical Agronomy
                                           1976 - c. 1995 CSIRO Division of Tropical Crops and Pastures
                                                 1996 - 2000 CSIRO Division of Tropical Agriculture
                                                       2000 - CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems
                                                       2000 - CSIRO Livestock Industries

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See also

Gavan McCarthy

Created: 6 July 2000, Last modified: 28 February 2025

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