The Kingaroy Research Facility is poised to become a major hub for pigeon pea research following the addition of 53 ha of adjoining land.
Minister for Agricultural Industry Development and Fisheries and Minister for Rural Communities Mark Furner said the expansion of the Facility demonstrated the Queensland Government's commitment to agriculture in the Burnett region.
"We are investing in innovation so Queensland farmers can be the best in the world," Mr Furner said.
"We can now really ramp up pigeon pea work while expanding existing trials. As one of the most widely-consumed pulses in the world, it has great potential as a summer cash crop.
"There is strong international demand for pigeon pea and it could also help meet growing demand for plant protein here in Australia.
"It's a crop well suited to Australian growing conditions and cold eventually match mung beans as the best broadacre, dryland summer cropping option in subtropical Australia.
"The Kingaroy Research Facility with its unique soils and growing conditions, purpose-built infrastructure and agricultural equipment is the ideal location for pigeon pea work.
"The expansion of the site with the 2019 addition of the adjoining land will allow the extended rotations researchers need for even more reliable results."
Mr Furner said the disposal of a smaller parcel of departmental land at nearby Redvale would raise funds to cover the purchase of the Kingaroy land.
"This transaction has significant advantages with the additional Kingaroy land being of an identical soil type to that at the existing research facility," he said.
"We'll have much better water supply security thanks to an on-site bore and creek flows, which will allow the construction of a dam of up to 50 megalitres capacity."
