You are here: SARDI Home  / About SARDI  / Research Centres & Facilities  / Plant Research Centre

Print

Leading agricultural innovation into a new era

Collaborative Research and Business Ventures

The Plant Research Centre is a unique, international-standard research complex offering impressive capabilities to support agricultural and bioscience innovation.

Designed in South Australia and built by the SA Government, the building’s design and construction concept provides facilities for advanced research in horticulture, plant breeding, entomology, plant nutrition, field crops pathology, viticulture and associated disciplines.

The Plant Research Centre incorporates equipment capable of growing plants from tissue culture to maturity in laboratories, controlled environments, greenhouses and field trials, within a single complex.

The complex provides high tech greenhouses, laboratories, controlled environments, cereal quality laboratories, confocal microscopy, genetic resources centre, extensive support facilities and conference centre.

The facility is a joint venture between the South Australian Research and Development Institute, Primary Industries and Resources South Australia, The University of Adelaide and the Commonwealth Scientific Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO).

The Plant Research Centre is located at Urrbrae in South Australia, 8 kilometres south east of Adelaide.

Innovative and Unique Features

Efficient Building Management System
A high tech computer-based building management system monitors and controls the mechanical and electrical services of the building. Inputs are provided by users, management and an external weather station, and enable the complex to be operated at optimum levels throughout the year.

High Tech Greenhouse Design
Greenhouses are specially designed to simulate natural conditions for advanced experimentation, and are operated in conjunction with the building management system and weather station.

Each greenhouse is clad in twin walled polycarbonate and is fully air-conditioned. The light weight durable material is impact resistant (particularly to hail), maximises natural light, and provides thermal insulating properties which reduce heating and cooling costs. Variable speed evaporative cooling units with hot water recirculated heating, control the temperature of each greenhouse module.

Greenhouses are arranged in 24 modules, each measuring 150 square metres. There are two quarantine modules, a PH1 containment module and a trace element module. Two greenhouse modules are refrigerated and provide accurate low temperature environments.

Efficient Energy Generation and Recycling
The Plant Research Centre features an environmentally friendly gas fired power generator, which provides 70% of the building’s energy requirements, with the public electricity grid providing support at times of peak load.

Mechanical services are designed to harness and store the surplus energy produced by the co-generation system. The energy is reused for heating and cooling the building and greenhouses through various heat exchange technologies. This system saves up to 40% of operating energy costs, and provides a two-way back-up in electricity supply to the complex.

Adaptable Plant Growth Rooms - Controlled Environments
The research facility provides 27 plant growth rooms, each measuring 12 square metres.

Features include:

• temperature ranges from -20°C to 45°C variable light intensities 0–1600 mMol m² sec^-1
• humidity control
• electrically operated and computer controlled plant growth lighting
• metal halide and high pressure sodium lighting, all with dimming controls
• fully automated control systems
• stainless steel floor and benches

Three rooms also meet trace element research standards and have the facility for gas infusion.

All units are designed to provide annual energy cost savings of up to 50% via computer software techniques.

Low Operating Costs
The Plant Research Centre provides optimum performance facilities at low operating costs per unit area in comparison to similar facilities available elsewhere in the world.

Laboratory Facilities

Support Facilities

SARDI Research and Development Areas

Innovative Food and Plants

• Cereal Breeding and Chemistry
• Evaluation and Agronomy
• Field Crop and Pasture Pathology
  - commercial diagnostic service
  - disease screening and breeding
  - nematode disease and taxonomy
  - seed pathology
• Pulse Breeding
• Crop Improvement
• Ornamental and Nursery Crops
• Post Harvest Technologies
• Tree and Vegetable Crop Development

Pastures and Sustainable Resources

• Genetic Resource Conservation
• Lucerne Cultivar Development
• Medic Cultivar Development
• Rhizobiology
• Soil and Plant Nutrition
• Pathology

Enquiries

SARDI
Plant Research Centre
Waite campus
2b Hartley Grove
Urrbrae SA 5064

Phone: 08 8303 9400
Facsimile: 08 8303 9403
International Code: +61

Email sardi@sa.gov.au