Transcript primary industry, fisheries and mines

DEPARTMENT OF
PRIMARY INDUSTRY, FISHERIES AND MINES
Plants, Rains and Automobiles
Sustainable Plant Industry
Development in the NT
- challenges of the 21st Century.
www.nt.gov.au/dpifm
Rowena Eastick
3rd October 2007
DEPARTMENT OF
PRIMARY INDUSTRY, FISHERIES AND MINES
Talk Outline
WHAT ARE THE MAJOR ‘ISSUES’ FOR SUSTAINABLE PLANT
INDUSTRIES IN THE NT IN THE FUTURE?
– WHAT ARE WE DOING ABOUT IT?
•
PLANTS – NOW & THE FUTURE
– Current status
– Increased demand?
– Genetically modified?
– Adaptive crops and farming systems for climate change?
•
RAINS – NOW & THE FUTURE
– Climate change
– Heffernan – come to the North
•
AUTOMOBILES – FUTURE
– Biofuels
– Comparing range of crops
www.nt.gov.au/dpifm
DEPARTMENT OF
PRIMARY INDUSTRY, FISHERIES AND MINES
Underlying all this……
ENVIRONMENT
• Public scrutiny
• Government policies
– based on science?
- Water? Land?
• Scenario Planning
- Climate change
• Water Smart
- Water Use Efficiency
- Deep Drainage
• BPSLUNT
www.nt.gov.au/dpifm
DEPARTMENT OF
PRIMARY INDUSTRY, FISHERIES AND MINES
“It seems to be a never-ending story - research will only be
done if effects of a change can be imagined.
Who, for example, thought of CO2 production and global
change when introducing automobiles instead of the horse?”
What are the changes that Plant Industry might need to
consider for future research and development priorities?
www.nt.gov.au/dpifm
(Pohl-Orf et.al, 1999
DEPARTMENT OF
PRIMARY INDUSTRY, FISHERIES AND MINES
PLANTS
Industry Background
Crop
Industry
Value
Tonne
produced
Enterprise
No
Fodder Crops (feed hay, mulch hay, silage)
$17.6m
115,360
88
Field Crops (sorghum, sesame, peanuts,
maize)
$0.8m
1,594
4
Pasture Seed
$0.5m
106
3
$18.9m
117,060
95
TOTAL
2006 Northern Territory Field & Fodder Crops Statistics
www.nt.gov.au/dpifm
DEPARTMENT OF
PRIMARY INDUSTRY, FISHERIES AND MINES
PLANTS
Fodder industry
www.nt.gov.au/dpifm
DEPARTMENT OF
PRIMARY INDUSTRY, FISHERIES AND MINES
Grain Industry
www.nt.gov.au/dpifm
DEPARTMENT OF
PRIMARY INDUSTRY, FISHERIES AND MINES
Agroforestry
• Increased interest in
plantation forestry
• Associated Managed
Investment Schemes
• Cyclones and fires –
and potential
increased frequency
and intensity with
climate change –
risk??
www.nt.gov.au/dpifm
DEPARTMENT OF
PRIMARY INDUSTRY, FISHERIES AND MINES
Horticulture
• Tropically adapted species
– Asian influence??
www.nt.gov.au/dpifm
DEPARTMENT OF
PRIMARY INDUSTRY, FISHERIES AND MINES
Future Agriculture??
• CROP SELECTION
– Varieties selected /
adapted
• SUSTAINABLE FARMING
PRACTICES TO ADAPT?
– No-till
– Retained mulch
– Best Bet Practices
www.nt.gov.au/dpifm
• REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT
– Socio-economic change
– Agriculture can play a major
role
– Indigenous development
DEPARTMENT OF
PRIMARY INDUSTRY, FISHERIES AND MINES
Future for Agriculture??
• RISE OF ASIA?
– Increase in live export cattle –
fodder demand
• RESEARCH??
– DPIFM has traditionally
conducted research into crop
agronomy and physiology to
maximise production in the semiarid tropics
– The future?
www.nt.gov.au/dpifm
DEPARTMENT OF
PRIMARY INDUSTRY, FISHERIES AND MINES
www.nt.gov.au/dpifm
DEPARTMENT OF
PRIMARY INDUSTRY, FISHERIES AND MINES
GENETICALLY MODIFIED??
www.nt.gov.au/dpifm
http://www.gmo-compass.org/eng/agri_biotechnology/gmo_planting/194.global_growing_area_gm_crops.html
DEPARTMENT OF
PRIMARY INDUSTRY, FISHERIES AND MINES
http://www.isaaa.org/kc/CBTNews/press_release/images/briefs34/figures/hectares/mega%20countries_hectares.jpg
COMMON NAME
COTTON
DEPARTMENT OF
PRIMARY INDUSTRY, FISHERIES AND
MINES
Insect
resistance
Modified Trait
Herbicide tolerance
Waterlogging tolerance
Water-use efficiency
Fungal resistance
Modified fatty acid content in cottonseed oil
BREAD WHEAT
Drought tolerance
Salt tolerance
Herbicide tolerance
Altered grain starch
SUGARCANE
Altered plant architecture
Enhanced water or improved nitrogen use efficiency
Altered sugar production
CANOLA
Herbicide tolerance
TORENIA
Altered flower colour (flavonoid biosynthesis)
ROSE
Altered flower colour, selectable marker
INDIAN MUSTARD
Herbicide tolerance
CULTIVATED RICE
Herbicide tolerance
WHITE CLOVER
Viral Disease Resistance
GRAPEVINES
Modified colour
Sugar composition
Flowering and fruit development
CARNATION
Modified flower colour
PINEAPPLE
Reduction of blackheart
Delayed flowering
PAPAYA
Delayed fruit ripening
OILSEED POPPY
Altered alkaloid production pathway
http://www.ogtr.gov.au/gmorec/ir.htm
www.lovelandgardencenter.com/images
DEPARTMENT OF
PRIMARY INDUSTRY, FISHERIES AND MINES
GM in the future?
DPIFM has done work on
gm cotton in the past.
–
–
–
–
Agronomy
Risk Assessment
Weediness
Integrated Pest
Management
It is likely gm crops will be a
part of agriculture in the
future??
- drought tolerance?
www.nt.gov.au/dpifm
DEPARTMENT OF
PRIMARY INDUSTRY, FISHERIES AND MINES
Increasing pressure to adopt biotechnology??
www.nt.gov.au/dpifm
DEPARTMENT OF
PRIMARY INDUSTRY, FISHERIES AND MINES
RAINS
– A DESIRABLE (& Scarce??) RESOURCE
• “Water is the key. The Heffernan
plan boils down to one thing:
turning the north into Asia's food
and water bowl.
• Genetically modified crops will be
heavily planted; rice, cotton,
grapes, sugar, lemons and oranges
will be abundant. Crops designed
for Asian markets - such as bok
choy - will abound.”
http://bulletin.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=264308
www.nt.gov.au/dpifm
DEPARTMENT OF
PRIMARY INDUSTRY, FISHERIES AND MINES
RAINS
Farmers told to move north
'where water is‘
Senator Heffernan says
farmers need to go where the
water is.
• "It is estimated that in 15 to 20
years somewhere over 4
million people in northern
China are going to run out of
water … There's going to have
to be some dramatic
reconfiguration of the use of
water."
"There's no question climate change is a reality.
We've got to take our farm to
where the water is," he said.
• (Hmmmm….what about
Australia running out of
water?)
The north is seen to have an
abundance of water….
http://www.abc.net.au/water/stories/s1766574.htm OCT06
http://bulletin.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=264308
DEPARTMENT OF
PRIMARY INDUSTRY, FISHERIES AND MINES
RAINS
• CLIMATE CHANGE (OR
UNPREDICTABILITY?!?)
– “Climate change is considered
the most serious long-term
threat to agriculture”
– Agriculture expected to be more
affected by climate change than
other sectors due to its
dependence on natural
resources
– New senate inquiry to
investigate climate change
impact on agriculture (27 Sept 07)
www.nt.gov.au/dpifm
http://www.aciar.gov.au/node/2391
DEPARTMENT OF
PRIMARY INDUSTRY, FISHERIES AND MINES
RAINS
• There are 4 main climate
related drivers on agriculture:
– Elevated CO2
– Rainfall and associated water
availability
– Temperature and associated
evaporation
– Extreme weather events
(droughts, cyclones)
• “Enhanced plant growth and
water use efficiency resulting
from higher CO2 may result in
initial benefits, but the balance
is expected to become
negative with general warming
in excess of 2-4oC and
associated reductions in
atmospheric moisture”
– “Few of these studies were
specific to the NT”
All interact to affect agricultural
productivity, quality, pests and
diseases
www.nt.gov.au/dpifm
» Report for NT DIPE 2004.
Climate Change in the NT
DEPARTMENT OF
PRIMARY INDUSTRY, FISHERIES AND MINES
AUTOMOBILES
Considerable debate over the
pros and cons of biofuels
“Biofuels contribute little or no CO2 to the buildup of
greenhouse gas emissions”
http://www.nrel.gov/docs/fy99osti/24052.pdf
“The potential of the current technologies of choice –
ethanol and biodiesel – to deliver a major
contribution to the energy demands of the transport
sector without compromising food prices and the
environment is very limited.”
» (Report from the Organisation for Economic
Co-operation and Development, Sept 2007)
“Any increase in the biofuels industry competing for
foodstocks has the capacity to ‘completely re-order’
world agriculture.
www.nt.gov.au/dpifm
» (Futurist Paul Higgins, QLD Country Life Sept
27)
DEPARTMENT OF
PRIMARY INDUSTRY, FISHERIES AND MINES
AUTOMOBILES
Biofuels conference in Brisbane last week
- new Biofuels lobby group
- embrace biofuels at a time when the
worldwide biofuels industry is
experiencing rapid growth.
“We have the situation in Australia where
neither the Coalition nor the Opposition
has a national policy or strategy for
meeting national energy security.” Renewable
Fuels Australia executive director, Bob Gordon
DEPARTMENT OF
PRIMARY INDUSTRY, FISHERIES AND MINES
Biofuels Research
•Identify bio-fuel crops that are agronomically
suitable for the NT.
•Collate crop production figures (grain biomass,
oil or carbohydrate content).
•Rank crops according to economic viability.
•Soybean
•Coconut
•Canola
•Mustard
•Cassava
•Sesame
•Sunflower
•Safflower
•Maize
•Pongamia
•African oil palm
www.nt.gov.au/dpifm
DEPARTMENT OF
PRIMARY INDUSTRY, FISHERIES AND MINES
Putting it all together?!?
Plants….gm….climate change…biofuel
• Scientists win prize for genetic modification of oil
producing plants
• Scientists who have found a way to control plant genes have
won this year’s Prime Ministers’ Prize for Science.
• gene-silencing used to combat climate change.
– Eg. plants that could produce biofuels customised for different engines.
These crops would be much more efficient at making biofuels than the
current processes using corn or sugar.
• They’d capture the CO2 when they grow, and release it when
used as fuel-a closed circle with no net carbon emissions!
www.nt.gov.au/dpifm
Posted on 22 September 2007 by Luke Hallam
DEPARTMENT OF
PRIMARY INDUSTRY, FISHERIES AND MINES
• Environmental Footprint
–
–
–
–
Off-site effects of plant industry
Pesticides
Biodiversity
Water
www.nt.gov.au/dpifm
DEPARTMENT OF
PRIMARY INDUSTRY, FISHERIES AND MINES
Future CFH projects
1. SCENARIO PLANNING
•Asks: What if????
– Project: “Scenarios for a different future”
•Develop specific scenarios through
participatory workshops
•Uncertainty in climate models – predictions of
climate change presented as a set of possible
scenarios
eg. Wetter ? Drier?
Aims: test scenario planning as a tool
www.nt.gov.au/dpifm
DEPARTMENT OF
PRIMARY INDUSTRY, FISHERIES AND MINES
2. WATER SMART Alternative Irrigation Approaches for Northern Australia
–Evaluate the on-site, catchment and regional environmental/ecological
implications of various irrigation approaches
–Engage Indigenous Communities
–Understand the economic imperatives
–Apply a framework for capturing and disseminating knowledge
Hmmmm….thought
we didn’t have flood
irrigation in the
Territory!
www.nt.gov.au/dpifm
DEPARTMENT OF
PRIMARY INDUSTRY, FISHERIES AND MINES
BPSLUNT
• Property development
planning
• Native vegetation and
natural eco system
management
• Water management
• Soil management
• Weed management
• Pest management
• Nutrient management
• Farm waste management
• Chemical management
www.nt.gov.au/dpifm
DEPARTMENT OF
PRIMARY INDUSTRY, FISHERIES AND MINES
PROJECTS
• Water Use Efficiency – irrigation tech
• Deep Drainage
• Carbon Offsets / Trading
• Allows companies to plant enough
trees to trap the same amount of CO2
and other greenhouse gases that
would be created by the manufacture
of their products
• Government Policies
– NT and National
•
•
•
•
•
land
water
gm
climate change
biofuels
www.nt.gov.au/dpifm
DEPARTMENT OF
PRIMARY INDUSTRY, FISHERIES AND MINES
CONCLUSIONS
• There is a link between:
– climate variability (change?!),
– rain abundance in the NT,
– increased demand for plant
production
– gm crop adoption
– biodiesel
• Underlying all these issues is
the need for environmental
sustainability
• Global and local drivers
• All will influence the future of
plant industries in the NT
– Have an opportunity to contribute
to:
• Regional development
• Indigenous development
• Asian trade
• How DPFIM will address these in
the future
– Applied research into plant
industries
– Scenario planning
– WaterSmart
– Environmental monitoring
“SUCCESSFUL RESOURCE BASED INDUSTRIES THAT
OPERATE TO BENEFIT TERRITORIANS”
www.nt.gov.au/dpifm
DEPARTMENT OF
PRIMARY INDUSTRY, FISHERIES AND MINES
Every beginning is from some other
beginning’s END.
www.nt.gov.au/dpifm