Furore over northern food bowl plan
The plans to build a tropical food bowl to rival the dying Murray Darling met serious difficulties last week as traditional owners, north queensland farmers and scientists began to explore the issues in detail. Noel Pearson and other Aboriginal leaders have promoted the development of large scale agriculture as a means of economic independence for traditional owners, but environmentalists are worried about a repeat of the destruction that has taken place in the Murray Darling. CSIRO tropical agriculture scientist Garry Cook, said the poor soils, the hot climate, floods and the lack of infrastructure made large scale agriculture unlikely.Nationals Senate leader, Barnaby Joyce said the area has the right fundamentals for agricultural development — plenty of water, sunlight and fertile land.
Rudd in secret Uranium deal with China
A document accidentally released with the budget papers last week reveals that the Australian government is negotiating with China to sell Uranium mined by BHP at it’s Roxby Downs mine. The Australian Labor Party voted to expand uranium mining in 2007 despite concerns about the amount of energy and water used by the mine, nuclear pollution across southern Australia and the proliferation of nuclear weapons as a result of the extra nuclear material being available.
Funny finance fails farmers
Michael Pascoe, consulting editor to Business Daily has torn strips of the Managed Investment Sector in agricultural products. He pointed out in a scathing column last week that some companies only put 20 cents of every dollar invested with them into agricultural products. The rest of the money was spent on fees and commissions. He expects the losses to come from the $4.6billion sector will dwarf those of insurer HIH or Bond Enterprises.
Feds detail water savings for southern irrigators
The irrigators of Australia’s fresh food bowl in the Murray and Murrumbidgee river basins have been offered $300million to assist them become more efficient in their use of water. The details of the federal government’s On-farm Irrigation Efficiency Program were made public last week. The scheme will buy part of a farmer’s water allocation to finance the efficiency improvements that will free up the water that has been purchased. The program is one component of the $5.8billion Water for the Future initiative.
New book debunks renewable energy stats
British physicist, David MacKay, released his book Sustainable Energy – without the hot air in the US last week. The book examines the hard facts about sustainable energy. For example, he notes that to replace on third of the fossil fuels used in the US with wind energy would require a wind farm the size of California. Professor MacKay said that he is in favour of rapid implementation of renewable energy but believes the current debate is poorly informed. The book is available for free download from Professor MacKay’s website.
Acid seas could starve 100 million
The rapidly rising acidity of the Pacific Ocean is threatening the coral reefs that provide a nursery for seafood that supports 100 million people according to a new report from the World Wildlife Foundation. Professor Ove Hoegh-Guldberg said that the report examines the future of the Coral Triangle stretching from Indonesia, through the Phillipines and out into the Pacific Ocean. He said that the region covers one percent of the earth’s surface but accounts for on third of the coral reefs and reef fish. It is also the spawning grounds of commercial fish such as tuna.