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Foreword

Following the Cereal Agronomy Conference in Perth in 1977, delegates from the Department of Agronomy and Horticultural Science, University of Sydney, canvassed the idea of forming a society in Australia orientated towards crop production, analogous to the Australian Society of Animal Production. Subsequently, Mr D.R. de Kantzow of that Department convened a meeting in Sydney on March 16, 1978, to consider the formation of an Australian Society of Agronomy.

The meeting decided that an Australian Society of Agronomy should be formed "to promote interest in the production, improvement and use of economic plants, including plants for grazing and horticultural crops", and that a National Agronomy Conference should be convened.

Two conferences have now been held:

  • The First Australian Agronomy Conference, held at the Queensland Agricultural College, Lawes, Queensland, in March 1980 with the theme "Pathways to Productivity", and arranged by the Queensland branch of the Australian Institute of Agricultural Science.
  • The Second Australian Agronomy Conference, held at the Riverina College of Advanced Education, Wagga Wagga, NSW, in July 1982 with the theme "Assessing the Need for Change", and arranged by a committee drawn from the NSW and ACT branches of the AIAS.

At the first conference a draft constitution, envisaging a society with open membership but established as a section of the AIAS, was adopted. This could not be arranged. At the second conference the constitution published in this proceedings, based on one prepared by Dr J.L. Davidson, was adopted. The Society is now an independent body with the immediate aim of conducting an Agronomy Conference every two years.

The next conference will be held in Hobart in February 1985 and the following one in Victoria in 1987.

Membership of the Society is open to anyone interested in crop production. For the period July 1982 to the next conference the fee is $10. The permanent mailing address of the Society is:

C/- Australian Institute of Agricultural Science, 191 Royal Parade,
Parkville, Victoria, 3052.

Dennis de Kantzow
Chairman
Second Australian Agronomy Conference

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