• Prestwidge, Di
• Macleod, Neil
• Higgins, Andrew
• Poulton, Perry
• Wilson, Peter
• Hopwood, Garry
• Paini, Dean

Abstract

There is renewed interest in expanded agricultural development in northern Australia due to increasing global demand for food, the region’s proximity to Asian markets that are growing in both size and prosperity, and the current policy initiatives from Federal, State and Territory desire by governments to support economically sustainable and vibrant rural and regional communities. The production potential, financial returns, and the supply chain implications for irrigated agriculture in four different regions across northern Australia were assessed to provide a systems analysis of development opportunities and challenges. Gross margins for high volume, low value broadacre crops were mostly either negative or weakly positive, principally because of the impact of high transport costs to existing markets in southern Australia. Higher value horticultural and specialist niche crops, or industrial crops with local processing facilities, were better able to generate positive returns. Scenarios of alternative transport routes to Asia, assuming suitable shipping routes and cost-effective availability of containers, provided modest cost savings but this did not significantly boost gross margins. When scaled up to whole irrigation areas, the gross value of production could be significant for the region but improving returns at enterprise scales requires more cost-effective supply chains. The ability to generate sufficient returns on investment was strongly influenced by the sequence of years associated with climatic variability and/or other unexpected shocks experienced in the years immediately following investment.The analysis highlighted that each component of the system - climate, soils, water, agronomy, pests and diseases, farm operations, management, planning, supply chains, infrastructure, labour, services, markets - needs to be understood but ultimate success will be dependent on managing the complexity of the whole farming system and value-chain. Further, scaling up development at a considered pace and being prepared for considerable (5-15 year) lags before positive returns on investment are achieved are likely to be critical for successful long-term agricultural ventures in northern Australia.

Topics

• impedance spectroscopy
• liquid-assisted grinding