Category: Sustainable Settlement and Agriculture
The Generator is founded on the simple premise that we should leave the world in better condition than we found it. The news items in this category outline the attempts people have made to do this. They are mainly concerned with our food supply and settlement patterns. The impact that the human race has on the planet.
admin /19 April, 2009
The German Agriculture minister, Ilse Aigner has banned the sale or planting of Monsanto’s MON810 corn on the basis that it is dangerous for the environment.
The corn produces a Bt toxin that kills insects which try to eat it. Questions have been raised about the persistence of the toxin in the environment. France and Germany have both questioned the safety of the corn a number of times despite approval by the European Union. Monsanto is expected to mount a court case to recoup damages of up to $US10million which it will claim as lost revenue.
Austria previously banned the corn on grounds of health concerns but was overruled by the European Food Safety Authority.
admin /11 April, 2009
Statistics published in February and March 2009 show no let-up in the financial downturn that has gripped the UK economy since last summer. In the past year GDP has fallen by 1.9%, unemployment has increased by 1.3%, and retail sales have dropped by 1.8%.
Against this background it is encouraging to report that sales of organic food increased by 1.7% last year – in marked contrast to the prophecies of doom made by some. This growth points to some underlying resilience in the organic market, suggesting that it has the potential to grow dynamically once the economy picks up.
admin /10 April, 2009
A sheep farmer in Riedsdale in the hinterland of Southern NSW has restored permanent water to a parched landscape by introducing a range of fodder trees and plants including willows, bamboo, chestnuts and oaks. Peter Marshal bought the degraded farm twenty years ago and began ploughing the pasture to 700 millimetres and planting the trees and running sheep and goats instead of cattle. The trees are regularly cut and the leaves used for fodder while the logs are left on the ground. He said the logsreduce run-off, capture organic matter and reduce wind speed across the pasture. The property now has permanent water where creeks once operated as drains, eroding the soil and further degrading the pasture. The high protein diet of leaves also include tannin that reduce methane production and increase fertility in the sheep.
admin /10 April, 2009
The failure of irrigation across the Murray Darling River basin has led to a mass exodus from the land, the Murray Action Group claimed last week. Chairman of the group, Lester Wheatley said the government is allowing natural attrition to depopulate the inland. He described the governments attitude as “If everybody moves to the coast, well so be it.” The mayor of Deniliqin in southern NSW said, “Since the rice industry stopped we have had a mass exodus.” Water minister Penny Wong said, “We have to face up to a future where we’re likely to see the less water. What we’re doing is seeking projects that will ensure efficiencies and continue to produce more crop per drop.”
admin /10 April, 2009
The government has forgotton to secure the food sector in its plans to head-off the global financial crisis, according to the chief Executive of the Australian Food and Grocery Council, Ms Carnell. The former chief minister of the Australian Capital Territor, Ms Carnell said that the $70billion food industry employs 200,000 people and faces the major challenges of global warming, peak oil and the economic downturn. “If these challenges are not addressed they will significantly impact on Australia’s long term food security and our capacity to be self sufficient,” she told the National Press Council.
admin /5 April, 2009
The Australian Conservation Foundation and Meat and Livestock Australia both issued statements last week about the important role of agriculture in managing Australia’s carbon emissions. Both groups emphasised the importance of perennial pastures, biochar and organic farming techniques in reducing emissions and called for further research into the analysis of methane emissions from livestock and the sequestration of carbon through regeneration of forests and use of tree crops on degraded land.
The primary divergence was one of emphasis, with the conservationists stressing the advantages of a vegetarian diet and the meat growers pushing for more attention being given to pasture management. Chairman of Meat and Livestock Australia, Don Heatley, said “Farmers are environmentalists in the truest sense of the word and have delivered huge environmental improvements that they generally don’t get acknowledgement for,” Mr Heatley said.
