Dr Rose Roche

Dr Roche leads CSIRO Agriculture and Food’s Resilient Farming Systems Impact Research Area Portfolio which is focussed on innovative animal and plant-based farming systems.

Dr Roche is the lead of Ag2050 - a new disruptive multi-year program of work that targets non-incremental change of Australia’s farming systems and provide an evidence-based picture of what Australia’s farming systems could, should and need to look like in 2050 to be profitable, productive, and sustainable.

Rose is passionate about creating change in farming and bringing new ways of thinking and technology to support farm productivity. Dr Roche works with farmers, grower groups, Agribusiness and leads multidisciplinary research teams to respond to challenges generated by variable and changing climates, by developing and delivering new knowledge, technologies (e.g. proximal and remote sensing), machine learning and AI approaches combined with system solutions to high-value crops (potatoes, cotton, tomatoes, hazelnuts, almonds and sugarcane).

Dr Roche is a recognised expert in plant water relations and irrigation management conducting research into the assessment and development of new technologies for irrigation strategies where water is limited.

Rose led the “WaterWise” initiative that found new ways to provide “more crop per drop” for irrigators by realising a vision of:

• combining existing, affordable field sensors with novel analytics to estimate crop stress and predict future canopy temperatures;

• translating sensor-derived data into estimates of the impact on crop production, using physiological insight to design metrics that can be generalised across diverse crops;

• using new techniques to communicate of the results of the sensor-analytics bundle in an adoptable form; and

• co-designing innovative business and technology transfer models to realise the value and enduring impact of the technology.

The WaterWise team developed a product that has been commercialised through an Australian Ag Tech company and already been adopted by 40% of the Australian cotton industry with a projected value of upt to $1 billion in benefit to the Australian Agricultural Industry.

Over her 23 year career she has also developed techniques to assess genetic differences in soil exploration by cotton root systems and increased understanding in cotton physiology in response to plant competition and maturity and influenced growers through her participatory research approach to developing agronomic solutions for industry.