By Anna Salleh


Investing in agriculture in Australia's north could not only be a way to
beat climate change, but could also help feed the planet, a new report says.

The report, titled A Food Secure World: How Australia Can Help, released by
the Crawford Fund this week, calls for more investment in research that will
help farmers internationally.

Co-author Dr Denis Blight says drought is one of the key reasons behind
falling global food supplies.

He says northern Australia is an attractive possible site for more farming
because of its semi-arid tropical environment, which has a guaranteed wet
season.

"If you can grow food there then you bloody well should," says Dr Blight,
executive director of the Crawford Fund.

But he says previous attempts to farm the continent's north have failed due
to a lack of knowledge, which is why research is badly needed.

Farming in this area is challenging because of its long dry season, poor
soils and a lack of knowledge about tropical pests and diseases and
appropriate crops for the area.

African farmers

Dr Blight says working out how to farm in the Top End could not only help
Australia, but deliver the scientific knowledge that millions of small
holder crop and livestock producers in Africa need to increase their own
productivity.

"The climatic conditions in northern Australia are very similar to those in
the central strip of sub-Saharan Africa ... and that's where most of the
world's poor people are," Dr Blight said.

As well as farming the Top End, Dr Blight says further investment is needed
to find crops that are tolerant to drought and salinity, practices that make
farms more resilient to uncertain climate and biofuels that do not put
pressure on food supplies.

"We should be investing more on research to look at conversion of woody
plants and grasses into biofuels," he said.

Dr Blight describes such internationally-relevant agricultural research as a
"win-win situation".

GM crops

The Crawford Fund report also calls for recognition of the role of crops
developed using modern biotechnology in food security.

It says GM crops have boosted productivity in a number of countries, but
their more widespread use is limited by public concerns and regulatory
hurdles.

The report suggests this should change given such crops are becoming more
widely cultivated without any demonstrated negative effects on the
environment or human health.

Dr Blight says negotiations are underway to make patented seeds available to
poor farmers.

"We need to engage with the Monsantos (agricultural biotechnology company)
of the world to persuade them to make seeds available free, under licence to
the poorest of the poor," he says.

Regardless of what solutions Australia investigates to help feed a hungry
world, Dr Blight says the country will have to do something about the
falling number of agricultural science graduates.

Dr Blight suggests one way to attract young people to agricultural science
is to highlight its role in "saving the world" and include study time in an
international agricultural research centre.
www.checkbiotech.org