DEMAND for agricultural science graduates does not look to be slowing any time soon.

The Deloitte Building the Lucky Country #3 report names agribusiness as one of the key industries creating the "next wave” of growth opportunities in Australia over the coming years.

Agribuiness is predicted to grow globally by 406% between 2013-33, with rising population and food demand seen as key drivers of the growth.

University of Queensland Dean of Agriculture Neal Menzies said there were about three jobs for every agricultural science graduate in Australia.

According to Mr Menzies, half of the jobs are located in regional areas, while the other half are based in urban locations.

Opportunities include research and development jobs, with private companies now staking a large claim in the industry.

"We've seen a much greater involvement in private companies in extension of agriculture,” he said.

"Going out and talking to farmers and advising them on how to deal with different chemicals or dealing with disease in their crops (or) what are the crops that are paying good return.”

Mr Menzies said agriculture could often be perceived as purely studying farming, when research jobs created a large proportion of opportunities for graduates.

"Occasionally students do come to us from production backgrounds but far more of our graduates are looking for the thinking and research jobs,” he said.

Hermitage Research Facility centre leader and associate professor Dr Andrew Borrell said the benefits of a career in agricultural science were one of the industry's "best-kept secrets”.

Dr Borrell said the joy lay in the discovery of solutions to the biggest challenges facing the world today.

Feeding a rapidly growing population, which Dr Borrell said was expected to grow to 9.5-10 billion by 2050, was one of the most pertinent challenges at present.

"To feed those people we essentially have to double the production of crops that we're growing and we have to do it with less water,” he said.

"Add climate change to that and we need scientists who can get their heads around it.

"They're the ones who are going to be informing government on this.

"You don't just get food from nowhere, you need farmers who are really smart and there's a lot of science that underpins what goes on.”

Dr Borrell said bouncing ideas off other researchers was how scientists at the facility solved problems.

"When you make a discovery as a team that changes the way the game works, that's very exciting,” he said.

"You're doing something worthwhile, you're contributing to humanity and providing solution that will help humanity.

"You're using your skills to be able to make the world a better place.”

Within the agricultural research field, Dr Borrell said, there was still great variation in the tasks scientists completed.

Cutting-edge science such as robotics and genomics could all come into play.

"If people go into something like this, it's a mixture of field work, lab work, travelling, writing, researching,” he said.

Entering a workplace such as Hermitage took years of study, as Dr Borrell said many of the scientists currently at the facility studied to phD level. But he believed it was all worth it for the opportunity to make a difference in the world.

"When you get out the other end you've got the foundation for a good career,” he said.