With the world’s food systems under pressure from rising costs, extreme weather and a growing population, agricultural technology – or agtech – is rising to the challenge.
From rust-resistant wheat and DNA sequencing to AI-driven crop monitoring and robotic farming, researchers are partnering with farmers to strengthen global food security – and to support the communities whose lives depend on it.
Rust is a bit like the COVID of the crop world ... it attacks cereal crops, like wheat, and can evolve rapidly and travel vast distances, even crossing continents.
Associate Professor Peng Zhang
At the University of Sydney’s Plant Breeding Institute on the semi-rural outskirts of southwestern Sydney, Associate Professor Peng Zhang and her colleagues move between shelves stacked with thousands of cardboard boxes. Inside are seeds – wheat, oats and barley –a kind of crop library.
In another area, seedlings grow in controlled conditions in more than 130 ‘microclimate rooms’, and in yet another, wheat rust spores dating back to the 1950s are preserved in vats of liquid nitrogen.
“Rust is a bit like the COVID of the crop world,” explains Peng, a lead researcher at the University’s Australian Cereal Rust Control Program. “It attacks cereal crops, like wheat, and can evolve rapidly and travel vast distances, even crossing continents.”
In fact, wheat rust – a group of three different fungal diseases – causes global losses of 15 million tonnes each year1. And with wheat providing about 20 percent of our daily calories and protein worldwide2 , and nearly 900 million people currently facing severe food insecurity3, as one of the world’s major wheat exporters – the need to protect the health of Australia’s wheat crop has never been more urgent.
“We get rust samples sent from farmers, pathologists and breeders all over the country, along with GPS locations” Peng says. “We trace the epidemiology, identify the rust strain, and analyse the risk level to crops, spotting new variants as they evolve.”
While some of the groundwork seems low-tech, it’s working hand in hand with high-tech innovation.
In the lab, researchers extract DNA and map rust-resistant genes, developing molecular markers to find rust-resistant traits. “We’re not using GMOs [genetically modified organisms],” Peng clarifies. “We’re using genetics to find natural resistance in wheat and its wild relatives, and breeding those traits into commercial varieties to get them into farmers’ fields.”
These crops fight rust without relying on fungicides, which can harm the environment, lose their effectiveness over time and leave residues in grain that risk its rejection for export.
Associate Professor Peng Zhang examines seeds stored at the University’s Plant Breeding Institute
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LinkTechnology that transforms the field
At the forefront of innovation, the University is using genomic prediction to forecast how plants will perform in specific environments – before they’re even planted.
“Traditionally, you would plant, wait a season, then evaluate,” explains Professor Richard Trethowan (BSc (Agriculture) ’84, PhD ’89), Director of the Plant Breeding Institute and an expert in wheat breeding with genetics and international agriculture. “With genomic tools, much of that happens in the lab. It’s faster and more precise.”
The researchers pair this with high-tech ‘phenotyping’ – observing the interaction between a plant’s genetic make-up and its environment – in real-world trials.
Instead of manual observations, drones and ‘phenomobiles’ – robotic vehicles equipped with cameras and sensors – can now capture high-res images in the field, enabling faster identification of stress-resistant varieties.”
Developed by Professor Salah Sukkarieh (BEc '97, PhD '00, GradCertEdStudies '03) and his team at the Australian Centre for Robotics in the Faculty of Engineering, phenomobiles measure how crops respond to diseases like rust, as well as to drought and heat. This data can then be used to predict which varieties will thrive under different environmental stressors.
“So ensuring we get the right genetics in the right place,” Richard says. “We’re on the cutting edge here. The tools we’re developing today will become standard in the future.”
From the lab to the land
All this research isn’t happening in a vacuum. Wheat and chickpea farmer Damien Scanlan, who farms near Goondiwindi on the NSW–Queensland border, is among the growers playing a key role in the development of this research.
Every few months he heads 200 kilometres south to the University’s state-of-the-art facility in Narrabri, on the northwestern plains of NSW.
“We go there with all kinds of questions,” Damien says. “We talk with Richard, with the University wheat people, pathologists and other breeders. We toss around sometimes a few wild ideas. And they’ll tell us, ‘That’s tricky,’ or ‘That’s doable.’”
Damien and three other farmers formed their own company, Rebel Seeds, to deliver new, high-yielding seeds specifically suited to their region.
“Stripe rust is a big issue affecting wheat crops at the moment,” Damien says, “and as springs get hotter and arrive later, many varieties are struggling to cope.
“We want a wheat that handles the changing circumstances we farmers find ourselves in. We’re aiming for low-carbon, low-cost, high-yield resilient systems. When you don’t have to spray for rust, you save money, burn less fuel, and it’s better for the environment. That’s a win all around.
“So it’s not just blue-sky research – it’s almost immediate,” Damien says. “The University has turned out a lot of work that is immediately usable to growers, in a very user-friendly format.”
Professor Robert Park has led the way in identifying wheat strains at the Australian Cereal Rust Control Program for two decades.
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LinkBuilding resilience over 100 years
Scientists at the University of Sydney have been working to identify emerging wheat rust strains for more than 100 years. Building on the work of pioneering agricultural scientist William Farrer, in 1921 Walter Lawry Waterhouse (BSc (Agriculture) 1914) identified the first wheat rust strain in Australia.
Today, Professor Robert Park has led the Australian Cereal Rust Program since 2003, as the Judith and David Coffey Chair in Sustainable Agriculture, supported by a $4 million philanthropic gift. He says the program has played an instrumental role in protecting Australia’s wheat industry – thereby making a significant contribution to feeding the world.
“Researchers have so far permanently designated around 240 resistance genes to all three rusts (i.e. leaf rust, stem rust and stripe rust) in wheat, and cloned about 40 genes,” Robert says, “all of which have enabled scientists to introduce desirable traits more quickly.
“Australia sells around 70 percent of its wheat overseas, so if we have problems with rust, that impacts through reduced exports and less grain for people around to buy and to eat.”
Robert says that rust-resistant wheat varieties are saving Australian agriculture about $1 billion every year by preventing rust epidemics – and it’s estimated that the University’s research group contributes to around 60 percent of this.4
Game-changing hybrid wheat
In 2025, the Plant Breeding Institute continues to push boundaries. Richard says its latest innovation – hybrid wheat – is set to increase yields and change how we supply wheat to the world.
“Hybrid wheat has been the ‘holy grail’ of wheat breeding for many years,” he explains, “and we’re now at the point of commercialising our system globally – to produce it on a really large scale.”
After 30 years of research, the team has created a genetic system that prevents wheat from self-fertilising. This enables it to be cross-bred for desired traits, such as rust, heat and drought resistance.
“Hybrids are more stable – less impacted by the vagaries of climate,” Richard says. “It’s a breakthrough for genetic technology, using natural diversity, so there’s a lot of excitement around this,” Richard says.
He adds that while it’s great news for Australian farmers, the biggest impact will be for people in countries facing increasing food insecurity.
“We’re working to make our technology freely available in the developing world by engaging with local governments, scientists and farmers in Pakistan, Ethiopia and Bangladesh.”
The future of farming, it seems, is rooted in centuries-old seeds and rust spores, cutting-edge innovation, and growing collaboration between researchers and communities around the world.
“What’s happening in Australian paddocks today has global implications, and the University’s work is part of a larger solution,” Richard says. “It’s a kind of arms race against evolving threats. But with technology, we’re staying one step ahead.”
Robots are coming to a farm near you
Robotic farming is no longer in the realm of science fiction – it’s happening right now.
Professor Salah Sukkarieh (BEc '97, PhD '00, GradCertEdStudies '03) at the University’s Australian Centre for Robotics is leading the charge, developing AI-powered, self-driving farmbots that can autonomously monitor crops, detect pests, locate livestock – and support agricultural and environmental research.
“We need smarter, greener solutions – and that means putting the right technology in the farmers’ hands,” Salah says.
Designed to run 24/7, these energy-efficient machines are helping farmers to do more with less – boosting productivity and overcoming labour shortages. Equipped with specialised sensors and real-time data-gathering tools, bots with names such as the Digital Farmhand, Swagbot, RIPPA and Ladybird, they run on electricity and solar. Their development is supported through industry partnerships and by the philanthropy of individual donors.
“The aim is to make robotics practical and affordable – even for small operations,” Salah explains. That includes growers around the world. “We’re now working with women and youth farmers in Cambodia, trialling smart mechanisation, AI and robotic tools to improve yields and resilience in the face of climate and resource challenges.”
With the global population over 8 billion, innovative, sustainable farming solutions have never been more urgent. This work is helping farmers to grow the food the world needs while protecting the planet for future generations.
Sources:
1. Food and Agriculture Organisation, “Where the wind carries hunger,” 12 May 2025.
2. Erenstein et al., “Global Trends in Wheat Production, Consumption and Trade,” in Wheat Improvement, Springer, 2022.
3. The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World 2024, United Nations.
4. Grains Research and Development Corporation, Groundcover, Issue 177, July‑Aug 2025.