Food and Agriculture in Australia: A Bright Future

It is a known fact that food and agriculture that both agriculture and food are the basics when it comes to the sustenance of human life. Moreover, it was agriculture that led to the birth of human civilisation. Since the first crops were domesticated around 10,000 years ago, advances in agriculture have been intimately linked with human development and the growing world population.

Agriculture, today, is a very sophisticated and highly technical industry, and in Australia, it has been one of our most innovative and efficient industries. Our farmers have remained competitive in a global food market despite Australia having low levels of subsidies relative to our major competitors. The ability of this industry to adapt, innovate and form successful collaborations will continue to support a strong and prosperous Australia with sustainable food security.

Being realistic about growth

Australia’s previous reliance on water and energy to drive up yields is not an option for the next phase of productivity gains. However, at the present moment, agriculture has an excellent record of productivity growth over the past 50 years, allowing global production to meet the large population increase and, for countries such as Australia, these gains have kept food prices low while keeping farmers in business.

Breeding and feeding

For Australia, food security is inextricably linked to the political stability of our region and has the potential to affect national security. Food security also affects the status as a premier food exporting nation and the health and wellbeing of our population. The likelihood of a food crisis directly affecting Australia is remote given that we have enjoyed cheap, safe and high-quality food for many decades and we produce enough food today to feed 60 million people – three times our current population.

Article by: Hari Yellina (Orchard Tech)