Welcome
As the President of the Australian Council of Deans of Agriculture (ACDA), I welcome you to our website. The ACDA was formed to provide a point of contact for University agriculture in Australia. The Council provides a forum for discussion amongst our Members, enables us to work together on projects where our common interest is served and provides a unified voice to government and other stakeholders.
In the 21st Century, it is clear that the world faces many challenges. Food supply and food security have been taken for granted for more than a generation. There are now many countries experiencing civil unrest because of food shortages. Over the next 20 to 30 years food production will have to increase by 50% to meet the needs of an ever increasing world population. Such food will need to be produced from approximately the same number of hectares. Therefore, agriculture will need the best educated and innovative minds involved to meet this challenge.
Our challenge in agriculture at the Universities is to have available courses of study which meet the needs of the sector and thus provide the expertise and skills in agriculture graduates equipped with the leading edge of science, technology and management. Our responsibility is also to provide the next generation of scientists to underpin the development of agriculture and build upon the quality of investigation established by the previous generations of scientists. We need to continue to make a substantial contribution to the research effort in our collaboration with research funding authorities and governments as well as with our Members.
The Members of ACDA welcome any enquiries from prospective students, agribusiness, government agencies and others who share our interests in improving the agricultural sector as well as the excitement of being involved with the very great challenges of feeding the planet and protecting the environment. Contact details are provided at this site and we welcome any feedback.
Yours sincerely,
Iain Young
President, ACDA