Rank Prize for Australian plant scientists

The 2014 Rank Prize in human and animal nutrition and crop husbandry, based in the UK, will be awarded to two Australian scientists who have known each other since high school.

Distinguished ANU Professor Graham Farquhar AO and CSIRO Fellow Dr Richard Richards have been recognised for developing an innovative method of identifying crops with superior water efficiency. In the 1980s, they correlated water-use efficiency in wheat crops to the ratio of carbon isotopes present in the leaf.

The award citation says their prize is for “pioneering the understanding of isotope discrimination in plants and its application to breed wheat varieties that use water more efficiently”. Their findings laid the foundation for other research currently taking place with oxygen and hydrogen molecules.

“Water limitation is probably the biggest limitation to agriculture production,” said Professor Farquhar, “so we think there’s probably quite a wide applicability to other crops as well.”

The only other Australian to have won the Rank Prize in nutrition was Dr Hal Hatch from CSIRO Plant Industry, in 1981, for his work in co-researching the C4 pathway of photosynthesis. Professor Farquhar said it was “an honour” to be linked with Dr Hatch.

Dr Richards said the prize demonstrates Australia’s international leadership in plant science. It is critical that we maintain investment in agricultural sciences, he said, “as food security and depleted water shortages for agriculture are two of the most important issues we face globally”.

Professor Farquhar and Dr Richards will be presented with their prize, which includes £80,000, by the former UK Minister for Science Lord Waldegrave on 10 February.