Climate change and global warming are facts; they are having increasingly disruptive effects on the agricultural industry, with water and food security becoming the major issue for governments throughout the world.
Achieving sustainable food supply without further degrading natural resource is now one of the most pressing problems.
This week a Sustainable Food Supply Chain forum was held in Sydney, Australia where a group of science, academic, business, and government representatives addressed Australia’s food retail and wholesale community emphasising the urgent need to change traditional growing and supply chain practice.
Presenter Craig Miller (CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems) stressed Australia's rural sustainability may cease to be viable this century if rapid transformation does not occur.
Followed by Professor Leigh Sullivan (Southern Cross University) who pointed out that the environmental and economic situations facing agriculture are challenging, but creates opportunities for agribusinesses that can best promote and maintain the sustainability of their underlying soil and water resources.
The forum, attended by some of Australia’s large food retailers, processors, wholesalers, growers, seed companies, banks and financiers, were told the only way to achieve sustainable agricultural supply throughout Australia’s farming community was through industry collaboration and wide scale change to existing supply chain practice.
Also presented was an example of a sustainable multi use farm who had adhered to farm of the future principles, where through a more holistic landscape approach, including the reintroduction of biodiversity, efficient use of water and other innovative farm practices, the property is experiencing enormous growth of up to 50% yield improvements, 70% reductions in water use and declining input costs through the reduction of fertilisers, pesticides and herbicides.
The general consensus was that a wide-scale adoption of the commercial approach to collaboration across the food industry is not only desirable, but essential to the long term survival of Australia’s rural activity and related agribusiness.
More details are available with Chep Asia-Pacific .