Former CIMMYT Wheat Program director, Tony Fischer, has won the 2007 Farrer Memorial Medal, an annual award established in 1911 to perpetuate the memory of famous Australian wheat rust researcher William Farrer and to encourage and inspire agricultural scientists.
In announcing the award, Farrer Memorial Trust Chairman Barry Buffier described Tony as the preeminent Australian crop physiologist of his generation. Tony’s main interest throughout his carrier has been wheat yield under both dry and well-watered conditions, with the goal of applying physiological knowledge to wheat improvement through breeding and agronomy. He has published more than 120 scientific publications, including several papers drawing on data from his own property in southern NSW where he kept crop, soil and climatic records for more than 40 years.
Tony received his medal in August at a ceremony in Canberra held to coincide with the Crawford fund 2007 Conference. He then delivered the 2007 Farrer Memorial Oration.
Climate adaptation and mitigation 