During an unusually wet spring in the Murray Valley district of north-western Victoria in 1919, local vineyards were devastated by a fungus disease, black spot.  A public meeting was called to discuss the problem in November and at the meeting the growers formed the Mildura and District Research Committee.  The Committee undertook to carry out investigations and give advice on vine problems.  It collected funds from farmers by imposing a voluntary levy.   Mr A.V. Lyon, a teacher in agricultural science, obtained 12 months leave of absence from the Education Department to work full-time for the Committee on fungus diseases of the vine.  His studies produced such worthwhile results that growers decided to increase their levy to support further work.  
An area of land near Merbein about ten miles west of Mildura, was made available by the State Rivers and Water Supply Commission in 1919 for field work and the Advisory Council of Science and Industry, forerunner of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, granted a subsidy of 10s for every pound raised locally. By the end of the year Mr Lyon and the growers had used the funds for developing the site, planting 15 acres of vines for 7 different trials, and building and equipping their first laboratory.
 
In October 1920 the Mildura and District Research Committee formally amalgamated with the Mildura Vineyards Protection Board which had been set up by the Victorian Government with legal power to impose a levy on growers to support research work undertaken on their behalf.  The placing of the Merbein Station under the control of a body with statutory powers assured its continued development, and 1920 has been taken as the Station's foundation date.
 
When the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research was formed in 1927 it assumed control of the Station together with the responsibilty for providing funds for operating it.  The station was renamed the Commonwealth Research Station, Murray Irrigation Areas.  There is an agency registered (CA 4701) which has a title similar to this which became part of the Division of Soils in 1929 when the agency closed.  
Mr A.V. Lyon was appointed Officer-in-Charge and investigations were initiated in the adjoining states of New South Wales and South Australia. Research on a wide range of practical problems continued and a number of new projects, including studies on the root system and fruitfulness of the sultana vine, were undertaken.  The main problem during the 1930's was soil salinity and this was studied in all Murray River districts. The Station's findings on irrigation, drainage and salting led to improved irrigation practices and the installation of community drainage systems. These findings are now the basis of current practice in virtually all the Murray Irrigation Areas.
 
By 1963 the Commonwealth Research Station at Merbein had been renamed the Horticultural Research Section and Dr J.V. Possingham, former
Officer-in-Charge of the station was designated Officer-in-Charge of the section.  The Section continued the investigations carried out at the station and also undertook new horticultural research with particular reference to the vine.  A laboratory was established in Adelaide where the physiology and biochemistry of horticultural plants was to be investigated.
 
The research program of the Horticultural Divison embraces viticulture, plant physiology and biochemistry, fruit processing, fruit trees and nematology and the work is divided between those projects which require extensive field facilities and which are based in Merbein and those in which a laboratory and glass-house approach is primarily used and which are based mainly in Adelaide.
 
Sources:
 
1. CSIRO Annual Report 1962-1963, p.3
Historical agency address
Merbein Vic

Previous agency unregistered

by 30 Jun 1927: Mildura Vineyards Protection Board