The challenges of implementing sustainable cropping systems in north-eastern Australia

Professor Mike Bell

School of Agriculture and Food Science

University of Qld Gatton

Crop production systems are under pressure globally due to the competing demands of having to increase food production to meet a growing world population while also contributing to a variety of environmental objectives that include achieving a net reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, enhanced biodiversity, and a reduced off-site environmental footprint. The complexity of these sometimes-competing imperatives is compounded by declining terms of trade for most crop industries, and erosion of government investment in agricultural research and development is hampering the provision of economic and technical support industries need to remain viable. In northeast Australia, these challenges are being accentuated by climate variability and the impacts of a slow degradation of the soil resource base in response to historical management practices.

This presentation will discuss the realities of these challenges for cropping enterprises in this region, with examples from the grains, cotton and sugarcane industries. It will include a discussion of constraints to implementing more sustainable management practices that are related to the large-scale enterprises that have arisen in response to the productivity and profitability challenges being experienced.

Bio: Prof Mike Bell leads the Tropical Agronomy group in the School of Agriculture and Food Science at Gatton Campus, University of Queensland. He has had a 40 year research career which has focused on understanding the interactions between plants, soils and environmental conditions, and integrating this understanding to develop management strategies that both improve the sustainability of different production systems and minimize the impact of those systems on the environment. During his career he has worked in the Ord River Irrigation Area of northwest Australia and the grain/sugar/cotton/peanut production systems of northeastern Australia, and has also worked on projects in Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines, and India funded by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR). In recent years his research has primarily focused on the management of soil fertility and productivity in broadacre cropping systems, trying to balance the often-competing challenges of balancing nutrient removal in harvested produce, maintaining farm profitability and improving the efficiency of use of applied fertilisers and wastes. He leads a large national project focusing on N fertiliser use in the grains industry and is also involved in projects looking at new fertiliser technology and minimising greenhouse gas emissions from a variety of nitrogen inputs in cropping systems.

Please note: If you have registered to attend the lecture via Zoom, the lecture link will be emailed to all registrants closer to the lecture date. This lecture may be recorded. If you have any questions, please email us at info@rgsq.org.au.