Available to view at www.farmtrials.com.au, the site brings together an array of on-farm research trials to provide local grain growers with information and insights to help them overcome cropping challenges.
Using innovative technology, the Online Farm Trials web portal has been developed by the Centre for eResearch and Digital Innovation (CeRDI) at Federation University Australia in Ballarat (Victoria).
Project leader Robert Milne says around 3400 trial projects have so far been published on the OFT site, with data contributed by grower groups and research organisations from across the nation, and he encourages growers, agronomists and other grains industry personnel to make use of the unique resource.
Published trial projects cover a wide range of crops and treatment types, and the portal includes a number of key features including:
- An interactive map of trial sites with layers of relevant information such as agroecological zones and average rainfall;
- Advanced search filters including treatment type, crop type and location;
- Search results with graphical display of measured results such as yield data and disease scores;
- Climate and soil information for each project;
- Original trial report documents linked to each trial project; and
- Links to other relevant information sources.
Grower groups and researchers are continuing to enter data onto the portal and the number of trials published on the site will continue to grow.
Grower groups and researchers retain all intellectual property rights and manage their own data, allowing them to submit, update or remove trial information on the portal.
The GRDC’s initiative last year won a Victorian Spatial Excellence Award as part of the annual awards conducted by the Spatial Industries Business Association and Surveying and Spatial Sciences Institute.
