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Early results from field trials on wheat crops show that a special plastic film that goes over crops during planting accelerates plant growth and encourages vigorous, high-quality crops despite dry field conditions. The discovery was announced at the launch of a new Polymer Cooperative Research Centre.

Other projects for the Centre include: technology to manufacture blood products from cells; polymer-based materials that, on exposure to fire, transform into ceramic fire barriers; low-cost transformable polymer solar cells; and computer modelling software that allows better design of moulded components.

The low-cost plastic covering, applied to rows of crops using a fully automated system, provides a temporary greenhouse environment that warms the soil and retains the moisture present during planting. The plastic eventually degrades in the sunlight.

The field trials were conducted in conjunction with the Birchip Cropping Group in Birchip, Victoria, a dry area with marginal rainfall. The trials have shown that, compared to the control crop, wheat that germinated under the film had higher protein content and lower moisture content in seeds. Wheat with these two key qualities commands premium prices in the market.

The research on the films is being conducted in the Cooperative Research Centre for Polymers (CRC-P) and research partners include: Queensland University of Technology, the University of Queensland, Swinburne University of Technology, and Integrated Packaging Pty Ltd, the commercial partner. Today, the CRC-P announced that further tests are being conducted on different films developed using innovative polymer technology.

The technology relies on the plastic film being degraded by sunlight so that plants can penetrate the weakening film at a critical time in their growing cycle without mechanical damage, and before they suffer heat stress.

Agricultural plastic films are already commercially used overseas on maize crops, but the CRC-P scientists are developing technology that controls and adjusts the rate of film degradation to suit the growing pattern of Australian crops such as wheat, barley, and cotton.

Dr Ian Dagley, CEO of the CRC-P, said the research team was looking at improving the system by controlling degradation through the use of novel additives in films. "The team has so far blown 45 films and is consolidating their understanding of the process and the variables that affect film performance and the interaction between plant and film," he said.

According to Dr Dagley, the scientists are also determining the critical time in the plant's growing cycle when they need to be able to break through the film, so that they can develop a film that will weaken at precisely the right time for a given crop.

"The aim is to produce a film that is completely broken down by harvest time," he said.

The research team is currently running four trials. In South Australia and NSW, the film is being tested on wheat. In Victoria, it is being tested on wheat and lentils, and in Queensland, on maize and sorghum. A fifth trial is being planned for use on cotton in Narrabri, NSW.

Research into agricultural plastic films is one in the suite of research being undertaken by the CRC-P which received $32 million from the latest round of funding from the Commonwealth's Cooperative Research Centres Programme.

With funding from the CRC Programme and its research partners, the new CRC-P is investing more than $100 million over 7 years on research aimed at developing advanced and specialised materials for economic activities in which Australia has the highest competitive advantage: agriculture, biomedical engineering, mining, energy, and more broadly, the manufacturing sector.