Martin Harries | Agriculture and Food

Martin Harries

Research Scientist

My role in the department

Martin is a research agronomist for the DPIRD/Grains Research and Development Corporation co-funded Tactical Break Crop Agronomy Project. He test’s new agronomy for break crops in both small plot and farmer sown trials. Martin recently negotiated a DPIRD/GRDC project “Expanding the Sowing Window for Canola and Lupin in WA” to investigate planting these species earlier to maximise yield and take advantage of early autumn rainfall. Previously Martin lead the Focus Paddocks project, which tracked the impact of crop and pasture sequences on paddock biology; weeds, disease and soil nutrients from 2010-2016. He is currently undertaking a PhD, in association with the University of Western Australia, investigating the impact of land use trends and biophysical constraints in WA farming systems with study assistance provided by DPIRD.

Contact information

martin.harries@dpird.wa.gov.au

+61 (0)8 9956 8553

+61 (0)428 942 682

My background

Martin has worked within the WA grains industry for the past 21 years, starting with the department as a Technical Officer at Merredin in 1998 before moving to Geraldton in 2000 to take on a research position. He has undertaken agronomy research and demonstrations on all the break crops grown in the northern region and have developed a good knowledge of the challenges of the region and current agronomic practices.

Projects

The role of biophysical constraints as drivers of land use changes in the farming systems of WA, PhD study 2019-2023
Expanding the sowing window of Canola and Lupins, What works in WA? 2019-2021
Tactical Break Crop Agronomy, Expanding the sowing window of canola and lupin in WA 2015-2019

Key Expertise

Lupin, canola, field pea, chickpea agronomy. Break crops in farming systems. Project management.

Qualifications

Bachelor of Agricultural Science with Honours, University of Tasmania 1997
Graduate Diploma in Natural Environmental Management, University of Tasmania 2008