Address at the Opening Ceremony of CSAE 2011

Thomas Banhazi

President, Australian Society for Engineering in Agriculture

Chair of CIGR Technical Section II

Professor, University of Southern Queensland

Dear friends and colleagues,

Australia and China are countries of great diversity with extreme agricultural challenges. Innovation has been a prerequisite for the agricultural sector in these countries. Currently, the agricultural sector faces intense challenges related to a range of economic, environmental and social factors in both countries. Collaborative research between Australia and China and adoption of new agricultural technologies might provide real opportunities to deliver innovative solutions for a variety of agricultural production systems in these countries.

 To facilitate collaboration, a large Chinese delegation visited the 2011 Australian Society for Engineering in Agriculture conference around the end of September and early October. (The Chinese delegation was truly significant and included 35 academics and researchers from 18 different universities and 6 academies/research institutes from 14 provinces across China.

 I must also say at that point that A/Prof. Wang Yingkuan from the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Engineering, Ministry of Agriculture played a significant role in bringing the Chinese delegates to Australia. Therefore, the SEAg Conference organizer gave him an International Exchange and Cooperation Award.  The conference and associated research visits provided a unique forum for Chinese and Australian delegates to come together, share ideas and thus foster the development of innovative solutions for the benefit of different agricultural industries. In addition, both Chinese and Australian researchers benefitted from the input of approx. 150 participants who arrived from 20 different countries to participate in the SEAg conference.

The 2011 SEAg conference offered presentations on wide ranging topics, including sensor development, machine vision applications, post harvest technologies, machinery design, tillage optimisation, irrigation, water, livestock and environmental management, making the conference a truly informative event. The Chinese delegation significantly contributed to debates during the conference. Interestingly, the “best your researcher’s presentation” award was also won by a Chinese student from the China Agricultural University, namely Weichao Zheng, a PhD student who is well supervised by Prof. Baoming Li, HD at the China Agricultural University. 

I also have to stress, that the SEAg conference was not a one-off collaborative event between Australia and China. My previous involvement in attending and speaking at the 2011 ICAE conference in Zibo, Shandong, my previous visits to CAAE/CSAE, to the China Agricultural University, and my long term relationships with many close colleagues in China including, Profs. Baoming Li and Yingkuan Wang demonstrated the mutual wishes and interests of both Australian and Chinese academics to improve cooperation between China and Australia in the area of agricultural engineering and production.

With this in mind I would like to congratulate you on this conference and would like to thank the organising committee for inviting me to participate. On behalf of all my SEAg colleagues I wish all of you a productive and enjoyable time during the 2011 CSAE conference.

中国农业工程学会2011年会开幕致词

托马斯.班哈慈

澳大利亚农业工程学会会长

CIGR第二技术分会主席

南昆士兰大学教授

（中文翻译：王应宽）

尊敬的朋友们，同行们：

澳大利亚和中国都面对着极端农业的多元化挑战。所以，创新就成为其发展农业的前提条件。当前，中澳两国农业面临的重大挑战都涉及到经济、环境和社会相关的领域。中澳合作研究和采用新型农业技术将为其农业生产系统的多样性提供创新性解决方案带来了真正的机遇。

为促进中澳合作，中国代表团于9月底至10月初参加了2011年澳大利亚农业工程会议。这支中国代表团由35位学者及研究者组成，他们分别来自中国14个省市的18所大学和6个科研院所。

我必须强调指出来自农业部规划设计研究院的王应宽教授，在此次组织并率团赴澳参会中发挥了重要作用，组委会因此授予他“国际交流与合作奖”。会议及相关的学术参观为中澳代表共聚一起，交流思想提供了独特的平台，并促进了开发有益于农业产业发展的创新型方案。另外，中澳研究者也都从来自20个国家约150个参会者的报告和交流中有所收获。

2011年澳大利亚农业工程学会会议研讨议题范围较广，为会议传递了大量信息。会议议题包括传感器研究进展, 机器视觉技术及应用，产后处理技术，机械设计，耕作方法优化，灌溉与水资源，家畜与畜禽环境管理。中国代表团也积极的参与到大会讨论当中。有意思的是，“你的最佳研究者报告”这一荣誉由中国农业大学李保明教授指导的博士生郑伟超获得。

我还要强调，澳大利亚农业工程会议不仅仅是中澳之间的一次性合作事件。我之前还参加了山东淄博召开的2011年工程新技术国际会议并在会上作报告，会后拜访参观了农业部规划设计研究院、中国农业工程学会和中国农业大学，与中国许多亲密的同行包括李保明教授和王应宽教授建立了长期的联系，并一致表明加强中澳在农业工程和农业生产领域的合作是中澳双方共同的兴趣和愿望。

基于这一点，我祝贺大会圆满成功！也要感谢组委会邀请我参加这次会议！我代表澳大利亚农业工程学会的所有同仁，祝愿在座各位在此次CSAE2011会议召开期间愉快而有所收获!