The ability to cost-effectively reinstate perennial native species is key to sustainable rangeland grazing and pasture systems. Developing the technology to reliably establish native plants has tangible benefits such as restocking degraded land, increasing plant ground cover and improving soil stability and function. Despite the many benefits of locally adapted native grasses, practical, cost-effective strategies to (re)establish some of these grasses have been unavailable. There is little or no commercial seed production on the scale required for production of low-cost seed and the species often have seed characteristics that are not amenable for bulk seed collection and ease of processing.  

There are several impediments to the (re)establishment of these native species. Native grass seeds are difficult to harvest, particularly at the scale required. Additionally, seeds are contained in florets that have pronounced awns, spikelets and hairs which increase bulk handling and tangle in direct seeding mechanisms making distribution problematic and inefficient. Seeds are often of low quality, and have dormancy and germination constrains. While this issue could potentially be solved using existing agricultural technologies, such as the application of polymer seed coatings, this is not possible given the floret’s large flexible appendages. The award-winning, patented, ‘flash flaming’ technology (a.k.a. Seed Flamer) not only permits effective mechanised seeding of such grasses by removing these unwanted floret appendages, but permits the implementation of seed enhancement solutions to overcome low germinability that limits plant recruitment.

This project aims to apply engineering techniques to enable the mechanised reinstatement of perennial native species in rangeland grazing systems. The project scope is broad given the lack of mechanisation in the industry and the processing steps involved in developing such a system. Activity could include developing more efficient seed harvesting techniques, devising methods to improve handling properties and enable mechanised seed planting, to designing the precision planting machinery.   

(N.B. This work stems from activity being conducted by UWA and Kings Park Science on the patented Seed Flamer and being piloted by DPIRD and Kings Park Science).