Australia's role in feeding the world / editors, Tor Hundloe, Sarah Blagrove and Hannah Ditton.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Hundloe, T. J. A. (Torstein John Arneson), editor.

Blagrove, Sarah, editor.

Ditton, Hannah, editor.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Agriculture--Australia.

Agriculture.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (287 pages) : illustrations, map

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Clayton, Victoria, Australia : CSIRO Publishing, 2016.

Summary:

Earth's human population currently exceeds 7 billion, and by the year 2050 our planet will have at least two billion more mouths to feed. When faced with providing food for so many people, the idea is often advanced that Australia will become the 'food bowl' of Asia. Australia currently grows enough food to feed about three times its population and agricultural exports are important to our economy; however, Australia's role in feeding the world needs careful consideration. This highly topical book draws together the latest intelligence on the sustainable production and distribution of food and other products from Australian farms. It examines questions that policy-makers, farmers, politicians, agricultural scientists and the general public are asking about the potential productivity of our arable land, the environmental and economic impacts of seeking to increase productivity, and the value of becoming cleaner and greener in our agricultural output. With chapters on the emergence of new markets, consumer trends in China, the biophysical constraints on agricultural expansion, and the various products of Australian agriculture and aquaculture, Australia's Role in Feeding the World provides valuable insight into the future of agriculture in this nation.

Contents:

Cover

Contents

About the editors

List of contributing authors

Acknowledgements

Introduction and a mud map

SECTION 1 THE BIG PICTURE

1. Feeding the planet's growing population

2. No escaping demand and supply

3. The global food supply

4. Australia's role

5. Trade, foreign investment and comparative advantage

SECTION 2 BIOPHYSICAL LIMITATIONS

6. Climate, rainfall, dams, bores and irrigation

7. Soils and underground critters

8. Australian fisheries resources

SECTION 3 HUMAN AND POLITICAL DIMENSIONS

9. Tar and cement, big holes, small wells and pipelines

10. When is a tomato not a tomato?

11. Waste not, want not: the case of the bent banana

SECTION 4 AUSTRALIA'S AGRICULTURAL EXPORT PRODUCTS

12. Growing grains in Australia

13. Our Andy's gone with cattle now

14. Horticulture

15. Sweet dreams of sugar

16. The chicken before the egg

17. Eggs

18. Australian fisheries production

19. Milking the cow

20. Wool, lamb and mutton

21. Cotton

22. A case study of agriculture: the Atherton Tableland

23. Farming the sun and wind

SECTION 5 TOWARDS A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE

24. A blueprint for clean, green Australian agriculture

Endnotes

References

Index.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (ebrary, viewed August 19, 2016).

ISBN:

9781486305919

1486305911

9781486305902

1486305903

OCLC:

932259961