A Queensland plant researcher has crafted a vision for the future of agriculture, which he hopes will help lure a new generation of farmers.

Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume. Listen Duration: 4 minutes 16 seconds 4 m 16 s Dr Lee Hickey and Anika Molesworth discuss the future of farming in Australia and southeast Asia ( Sarina Locke ) Download 2 MB

Dr Lee Hickey's version of 2030 features robots, drones and intelligent machines as common place on farms, helping to reduce labour costs and chemical use.

The University of Queensland researcher has crafted a narrative based around "Farmer Tim" in 2030.

In the story, which Dr Hickey told at an Australian Academy of Technology and Engineering conference, it's June 2030, mid-way through the winter wheat growing season and Tim gets an urgent message.

One day Tim receives a notification on his iPhone version 26. His crop management app is warning him of an outbreak of yellow spot, a pretty nasty disease. The monitoring drone has detected the disease in the paddock while Tim was taking a shower. Tim slides through his management options and instructs his sprayer drone to take care of the problem. The drone, like the tractor, knows every inch of the farm and flies straight to the paddock with the disease. But instead of deploying a traditional fungicide, the drone applies to the crop, RNA that is specially designed to silence the gene in the pathogen that is required for producing the spores. So instead of spending eight hours spraying his crop, Tim goes to the footy with his mates.

In his lab, Dr Hickey has developed a process called "speed breeding", in intensive 24 hour lighting and controlled temperatures - a process inspired by how NASA grows food for astronauts in long space missions.

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"A big limitation in developing new varieties can take up to 20 years," Dr Hickey said.

"But in speed breeding we can achieve up to seven generations of wheat per year under constant lighting.

"It's a fantastic tool for selecting for traits and manipulating genes in the right combinations. So we can fast track the variety developing down to five to six years."

Dr Lee Hickey in his speed breeding lab at University of Queensland ( Supplied )

It's this futuristic thinking that Dr Hickey argues will inspire future generations into farming and research.

He said the next generation of agricultural researchers in his lab are finding plant adaptations to climate change.

"We've just recently identified one of the key genes that shape the root architecture, which make the roots grow shallow or deep," Dr Hickey said.

"So if you can design a plant like this, when you get enough rain, the plant has a mechanism enabling it to avoid drought."

Buffalo like these in Java, still in use in Laos to prepare the rice paddies. ( Sarina Locke )

You can't speed up a buffalo

Dr Hickey's vision of farming in 2030 is focused on developed nations.

As one of the poorest countries in South-East Asia, contemporary farming in Laos is far cry from what it is in Australia.

Buffalo still work rice paddies and the farmers have a limited capacity to adapt to climate change.

Deakin University PhD researcher Anika Molesworth, the winner of the ABC's Young Farmer of the Year 2015, is studying agricultural practices in Laos.

She splits her time between Laos, her farm at Broken Hill and Melbourne.

"I always get asked, what do you do out there? Don't you get bored in the country?," Ms Molesworth said.

"People don't understand how dynamic it is, it's constantly changing and we use the latest technology. Farmers are incredibly forward thinking."

"We are constantly thinking how to pass onto the next generation the best sustainable farm business possible."

Ms Molesworth said sharing these experiences would help to inspire a new generation of farmers.

"We have to promote what is happening in rural and regional Australia; farmers have to play a leading role in sharing our stories."