Professor Bill Bellotti

• Biography
• Areas of Research / Teaching Expertise
• Grants / Current Projects
• Awards and Recognition
• Publications
• Optional
• Contact Details

Biography

Professor Bill Bellotti was appointed to the Vincent Fairfax Chair in Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development in 2009. Prior to this appointment Bill was with the University of Adelaide, The South Australian Research & Development Institute, and NSW Department of Agriculture. Bill's PhD from the University of New England focussed on pasture agronomy and ecology. His undergraduate degree was in Australian Environmental Studies at Griffith University.

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Areas of Research / Teaching Expertise

Agriculture, Agronomy, Rural Development, Farming Systems

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Grants / Current Projects

Improving farmer livelihoods through efficient use of resources in crop-livestock farming systems in western China

Responding to the threat of climate change: identifying effective strategies for the wheat industry of south-east Australia.

High water use farming systems that integrate perennials into cropping systems.

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Awards and Recognition

2008 - President, Australian Society of Agronomy

2007 - OECD Fellowship, Biological Resource Management for Sustainable Agricultural Systems.

2005 - Dunhuang Award, the highest honour granted to foreign experts in Gansu, China.

2004 - Honorary Professor, Lanzhou University, Gansu, China.

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Publications

Book Chapters:
Bellotti, W.D. (2006) Improving the productivity and sustainability of rainfed farming systems for the Loess Plateau of Gansu Province. In: The Loess Plateau in Central China: Ecological Restoration and Management. Ecological Research for Sustaining the Environment in China Ecological Book Series 3. UNESCO (In Press, Accepted 12 April, 2006)

Entz, M.H., Bellotti, W.D., Powell, J.M., Angadi, S.V., Chen, W., Ominski, K.H., and Boelt, B. (2005) Evolution of integrated crop-livestock production systems. pp 137-148, In: Grassland: A Global Resource, Ed: D.A. McGilloway. Wageningen Academic Publishers.

Whalley, R.D.B. and Bellotti, W.D. (1997) Natural pastures and rangelands. In Pasture Production and Management, Eds J.V. Lovett & J.M. Scott (Inkata Press. Melbourne).

Refereed Journal Articles:
Shen, Y., Li, L., Chen, W., Robertson, M.J., Unkovich, M.J. and Bellotti, W.D. (2009) Productivity, soil water and resource use efficiency of lucerne-wheat rotations on the Loess Plateau, north-west China. Field Crops Research 111, 97-108.

Chen, W., Shen, Y,Y,, Robertson, M,J,, Probert, M,E, and Bellotti, W.D. (2008) Simulation of lucerne – wheat crop rotation on the Loess plateau of northwest China. Field Crops Research 108, 179-187.

Huang, GB, Zhang, RZ, Li, GD, Li, LL, Chan, KY, Heenan, DP, Chen, W, Unkovich, MJ, Robertson, MJ, Cullis, BR, Bellotti, WD. (2008) Productivity and sustainabilitiy of a spring wheat – field pea rotation in a semi-arid environment under conventional and conservation tillage systems. Field Crops Research 107, 43-55.

Harris, R.H., Crawford, M.C., Bellotti, W.D., Peoples, M.B. and Norng, S. (2008) Companion crop performance in relation to annual biomass production, resource supply and subsoil drying. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research, 59, Issue 1.

Nolan, S., Unkovich, M.J., Shen,Y., Li, L. and Bellotti, W.D. (2008) Farming systems of the Loess Plateau, Gansu Province, China. Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment, 124, 13-23.

Harris, R.H., Clune, T.S., Peoples, M.B., Swan, A.D., Bellotti, W.D., Chen, W. and Norng, S. (2007) The importance of in-crop lucerne suppression and nitrogen for cereal companion crops in south-eastern Australia. Field Crops Research, 104, 31-43.

Harris, R.H., Hirth, J.R., Crawford, M.C., Bellotti, W.D., Peoples, M.B. and Norng, S. (2007) Companion crop performance in the absence and presence of agronomic manipulation. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research, 58, 690-201.

Franklin-McEvoy, J., Bellotti, W.D. and Revell, D.K. (2007) Supplementary feeding with grain improves the performance of sheep grazing saltbush (Atriplex nummularia) in autumn. Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture, 47, 912-917.

Denton, M.D., Hill, C.R., Bellotti, W.D. and Coventry, D.R. (2007) Nodulation of annual medics in two pastures of contrasting soil pH and background rhizobial populations. Applied Soil Ecology, 35, 441-448.

Eslami, S.V., Gill, G.S., Bellotti, W.D. and McDonald, G. (2006) Interference of wild radish in wheat. Weed Science, 54, 749-756.

Humphries, A.W., Kobelt, E.T., Auricht, G.C. and Bellotti, W.D. (2006). Tolerance of Australian lucerne (Medicago sativa) germplasm to grazing by sheep. Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture, 46, 1263-1270.

Cox, J., Pitman, A. and Bellotti, W.D. (2005) The role of shallow drains in removing excess water from texture-contrast soils. Australian Journal of Water Resources, 9, 109-118.

Emms, J., Virtue, J.G., Preston, C. and Bellotti, W.D. (2005) Legumes in temperate Australia: A survey of naturalisation and impact in natural ecosystems. Biological Conservation, 125, 323-333.

Luo, Q., Jones, R., Williams, M., Bryan, B. and Bellotti, W. D. (2005) Construction of probabilistic distributions of regional climate change and their application in the risk analysis of wheat production. Climate Research 29 (1): 41-52.

Luo, Q., Bryan, B., Bellotti, W. D. and Williams, M. (2005) Spatial analysis of environmental change impacts on wheat production in Mid-Lower North, South Australia. Climatic Change 72 (1-2): 213-228.

Luo, Q., Bellotti, W.D., Williams, M. and Bryan, B. (2005) Potential impact of climate change on wheat yield in South Australia. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, 132, 273-285.

Sadros, V.O., Baldock, J.A., Cox, J.W. and Bellotti, W.D. (2004) Crop rotation effect on wheat grain yield as mediated by changes in the degree of water and nitrogen co-limitation. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research, 55, 599-607.

Humphries, A.W., Latta, R.A., Auricht, G.C. and Bellotti, W.D. (2004) Over-cropping lucerne with wheat: effect of lucerne winter activity on total plant production and water use in the mixture, and wheat yield and quality. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research, 55, 839-848.

Anderson, A., Baldock, J.A., Rogers, S.L., Bellotti, W.D. and Gill, G. (2004) Influence of chlorsulfuron on rhizobial growth, nodule formation, and nitrogen fixation with chickpea. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research, 55, 1059–1070.

Yunusa, I.A.M., Bellotti, W.D., Moore, A.D., Probert, M.E., Baldock, J.A. and Miyan, S.M. (2004) An exploratory evaluation of APSIM to simulate growth and yield processes for winter cereals in rotation systems in South Australia. Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture, 44, 787-800.

Luo, Q., Williams, M.A.J., Bellotti, W.D. and Bryan, B. (2003) Quantitative and visual assessments of climate change impacts on South Australian wheat production. Agricultural Systems 77, 173-186.

Turpin, J.E., Robertson, M.J., Haire, C., Bellotti, W.D., Moore, A.D. and Rose, I. (2003) Simulating fababean development, growth and yield in Australia. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research, 54, 39-52.

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Optional

Committed to reversing the long-term decline in undergraduate enrolments in agriculture. Current strategies for achieving this include exploring and developing synergies between agriculture and food, and between agriculture and environment. These two strategies can be summed up by the phrases:
"Eating is an act of agriculture", and;
"Farmers are the greatest group of environmental managers on the planet".

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