But we have worked with our counterpart Corporation for the grains industry the Grains Research and Development Corporation to finalise an evaluation framework which we are now using for our portfolio. We have a rolling four-year evaluation program covering our four principal program areas. The Corporation has published two reports which provide details of these evaluation results. Of the 14 projects taken for detailed evaluation, the results showed that all but two projects were found to have rates of return in excess of our Five Year Strategic Plan performance target of 25 per cent. Examples of rates of return of more than 100 per cent were lucerne hay management technology extension, rice harvester efficiency research and research on diets for moulted laying hens.
Research is inherently risky so it is unrealistic to expect all our investments to produce payoffs.
And to pursue low risk research investments may simply lead to low payoffs. Also, the process of innovation actually putting ideas to work is highly complex and involves many variables over which we have little or no influence. Some major variables that influence innovation are summarised in the chart below . Education, business culture, attitudes to risk taking and availability of venture capital as well as intellectual property and a competitive environment are all important, along with research and development if successful innovation is to occur. While the Corporation has little influence over these variables, wider appreciation of their importance is more likely to foster a higher level of innovation and hence payoff.