"It's a band-aid measure over the problem."
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That is what one local grower thinks about the federal government's $20 million research program into the Murray-Darling Basin.
Federal Water Minister David Littleproud said the program aims to better inform environmental decisions and improve Basin plan outcomes.
"Better information will only lead to better outcomes in the Basin," Mr Littleproud said.
"The research will improve our understanding of how things such as hydrology and climate change impact the environment, and the livelihoods of people in the Basin."
But not all growers are convinced by the program, with Tony Parle, a grower and supplier of pickled cucumbers, stating the program is a way for the government to skirt around the larger issues of the Murray-Darling Basin plan.
"I don't see the benefit of it," Mr Parle said.
"They need a Royal Commission... where the Murray-Darling Basin plan will be reviewed a bit more seriously."
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However, citrus grower Vito Mancini said any research programs or commissions into the plan would need to have a clear reference point from which to build off.
"I hear that a lot, I hear people say we need a Royal Commission," Mr Mancini said.
"But a Royal Commission into exactly what?
"To say a broad statement like the inadequacies of the MDBA, it's too broad and leaves the ultimate conclusion from that report to be probably vague and not usable for anything."
The announcement of the program comes as an estimated 3000 attendees descended on Tocumwal on Thursday as part of a rally demanding changes be made to the Basin plan.
The program will be led by Professor Rob Vertessy, who previously led an independent review into the mass death of fish in the lower Darling River earlier in the year.
Mr Littleproud indicated regionally-based research bodies will also benefit from the program, with the Murray-Darling Basin Authority administering the program.
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