It also found 17 per cent of urban teenagers surveyed had never been on a farm, while a further 50 per cent had been to a farm three or fewer times.

Despite this, many saw farming and food production as extremely or very important to the nation.

The survey of 600 students aged between 15 and 18 from major Australian capitals was commissioned by Rabobank.

Rabobank Australia and New Zealand head of Sustainable Business Development Marc Oostdijk said the research showed a "concerning knowledge gap" among Australian youth when it came to agriculture and food production.

He said the research was prompted by a genuine concern the next generation of Australians may not understand or appreciate the role of agriculture in the nation's economy and future.

"It is also important to help bridge this disconnect between city and rural communities in order to attract young people to work in agriculture and become part of securing the sector's future," he said.

Almost 20 per cent of teenagers in the survey said they "don't really know anything" about "how food gets from the farm to my plate", while 49 per cent knew only "a little".

While there was generally low awareness of the food production process among the teenagers, Mr Oostdijk said, it was more acute once produce and ingredients had left the farm.

"When it comes to what happens to the ingredients and produce once they leave the farm, 28 per cent of respondents say they know nothing about this and 47 per cent says they only know 'a little bit'," he said.

A third of the teenagers did not know how food ingredients and produce were packaged and got to the supermarket, while 45 per cent knew only a little about it

In terms of farm activity, 20 per cent did not know what farmers needed to do to grow ingredients and produce, while 49 per cent said they only had a little understanding.

However, 27 per cent knew "quite a bit" about this and 3 per cent a "great deal".

Mr Oostdijk said there was little difference in the overall knowledge levels among government and non-government students, but knowledge and understanding of farming and food production was not surprisingly considerably higher among students who had spent more time on farms.

Even though the survey showed there were considerable knowledge gaps regarding agriculture, it was encouraging most urban teenagers surveyed perceived farming and food production as extremely or very important to Australia, Mr Oostdijk said.

Of those surveyed, 60 per cent believed farming was "extremely important" to Australia and 39 per cent said the impact would be "significant" if there was no farming in Australia.

"Pleasingly 93 per cent had positive associations with farming, primarily around the themes of fresh food and agriculture being good for the local economy," Mr Oostdijk said.

"Negative associations were around issues like drought, low pay and animal management issues."

The survey found one in five of the city teenagers was "extremely" or "very" interested in finding out more about agriculture, while a further two in five were "somewhat interested".

"Encouragingly, those more knowledgeable about farming were still more interested in finding out more about the industry; however those who hadn't visited a farm were less interested," Mr Oostdijk said.

Meanwhile, careers in agriculture rated lower than many other professions among the students surveyed, with just 7 per cent expressing a career interest in agriculture.