SYDNEY, Aug. 17 (Xinhua) -- The Queensland government in Australia has delivered 420 million Australian dollars (333.77 million U.S. dollar) to the state's agriculture sector on Thursday, as part of a 10-year action plan to further food research and development.
The announcement follows the enormous success of the state's chickpea crop, which grew 106 percent last financial year, from 700 million Australian dollars (555.86 million U.S. dollars) to 1.3 billion Australian dollars (1.03 billion U.S. dollars).
"Chickpeas are now the fourth top commodity, behind cattle, sugarcane and cotton," Queensland Agriculture Minister Bill Byrne said in a statement.
"Government supported research has produced superior varieties and the sector has enormous potential for further growth," he added.
Across central Queensland, there is an estimated 300,000 hectares of chickpea farms, with tens of thousands more hectares ready to be cultivated in the the south of the state.
"Working together we have developed a billion-dollar export industry for Queensland," Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said.
"That brings new prosperity to producers, their families and their communities and it creates jobs through the supply chain - from farm supplies through to port for export."
