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Developing successful agriculture : an Australian case study PDF

234 Pages·2013·1.513 MB·English
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D S A EVELOPING UCCESSFUL GRICULTURE An Australian Case Study To all men and women of rural Australia for their dedication and contribution to advancing Australian agriculture D S EVELOPING UCCESSFUL A GRICULTURE An Australian Case Study Zhang-Yue Zhou James Cook University Townsville, Queensland Australia CABI is a trading name of CAB International CABI CABI Nosworthy Way 38 Chauncey Street Wallingford Suite 1002 Oxfordshire OX10 8DE Boston, MA 02111 UK USA Tel: +44 (0)1491 832111 T: +1 800 552 3083 (toll free) Fax: +44 (0)1491 833508 T: +1 (0)617 395 4051 E-mail: [email protected] E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.cabi.org © Zhang-Yue Zhou 2013. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronically, mechanically, by photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the copyright owners. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library, London, UK. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Zhou, Zhang-Yue. Developing successful agriculture : an Australian case study / Zhang-Yue Zhou. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-84593-945-8 (alk. paper) 1. Agriculture--Economic aspects--Australia--Case studies. I. Title. HD2152.Z46 2013 338.10994--dc23 2012030952 ISBN-13: 978 1 84593 945 8 Commissioning editor: Claire Parfi tt Editorial assistant: Alexandra Lainsbury Production editor: Lauren Povey Typeset by AMA DataSet, Preston, UK. Printed and bound in the UK by CPI Group (UK) Ltd, Croydon, CR0 4YY. Contents Foreword ix Preface xiii Acknowledgements xv List of Tables xix List of Figures xx Abbreviations xxi Glossary xxv Part I: Australian Agriculture: A Success Story 1 1 Introduction 3 1.1 Success of Australian Agriculture 4 1.2 Objectives 6 1.3 Organization of the Book 6 References 7 2 Agricultural Development 8 2.1 Environment and Resources 8 2.2 Origin and Evolution of Australian Agriculture 12 2.3 Australian Agriculture Today 16 2.4 Concluding Comments 31 Notes 31 References 31 Part II: What Has Made Australian Agriculture Successful 33 3 Getting the Institutions Right 35 v vi Contents 3.1 The Constitutional Framework 35 3.2 Land Tenure 39 3.3 Responsible Government, the Public Service and the D epartment of Agriculture 44 3.4 Transparent Policy Process 45 3.5 Agricultural Services 47 3.6 Other Important Institutions 49 3.7 Concluding Comments 49 Note 51 References 52 4 Protecting Farmers’ Interests 53 4.1 Rural Politics 53 4.2 Farmer Organizations 56 4.3 Other Protective Measures 69 4.4 Concluding Comments 71 Notes 72 References 73 5 Deregulating Agriculture 74 5.1 Heavily Regulated Agriculture Prior to the 1980s 75 5.2 Completely Deregulating Agriculture (since the 1980s) 83 5.3 Providing Adjustment Assistance 87 5.4 Changing Role of Government in Agriculture 94 5.5 Concluding Comments 95 Notes 98 References 99 6 Encouraging Entrepreneurial Farming 101 6.1 The Need to be Entrepreneurial 101 6.2 Transforming the Farming Community: From Producers to Business Operators 102 6.3 Entrepreneurial Farmers: Success Stories 104 6.4 Concluding Comments 109 Reference 110 7 Proactive R&D Investments 111 7.1 Agricultural Research, Development and Extension in Australia: An Overview 111 7.2 Rural R&D Corporations 116 7.3 Collaboration and Coordination in Rural R&D 123 7.4 Agricultural Extension 126 7.5 Agricultural Education 128 7.6 Private Investment in Agricultural RD&E 129 7.7 Remaining and Emerging Issues 131 7.8 Concluding Comments 133 References 135 Contents vii 8 Innovative Farming Community 137 8.1 The Need to be Innovative 137 8.2 Some Examples 139 8.3 Encouraging, Fostering and Rewarding Farmer Innovation 141 8.4 Concluding Comments 143 References 144 9 Fostering Sustainable Farming 145 9.1 A Brief History of Environmental Issues in Australia 145 9.2 Environmental Issues Concerning the Farming Community 147 9.3 Initiatives and Approaches in Dealing with Environmental Problems 153 9.4 Concluding Comments 170 Notes 173 References 174 Part III: Handling Emerging Challenges for Future Success: The Australian Way 177 10 Handling Emerging Challenges 179 10.1 Uncertain World Markets 179 10.2 Volatile Weather Conditions 181 10.3 Biosecurity Threats 182 10.4 Farm Succession 183 10.5 Labour and Skills Shortage 184 10.6 Stronger Public Demand for Environment Protection 185 10.7 Urban–Rural Divide 186 10.8 Concluding Comments 187 References 188 Postscript 190 Index 193 This page intentionally left blank Foreword The remarkable performance of Australian agriculture, amidst substantial dismantling of government supports and interventions over the last three decades, offers tremendous insight for other countries, particularly on what is required to create a successful agriculture sector when it is treated almost equally to any other business or industry in the economy. The development of such an agri- culture sector is often a dream for policy makers throughout the world, and a challenge that is often given up due to lack of know-how, courage, or simply because it is considered impossible. Australia offers a great example for countries to consider in this context. From the 1950s to 1970s, the United States provided a very good example for countries to follow on how to develop their agriculture sectors and achieve food security, and this provided the foundation for the green revolution that solved the world food problem at that time. Today, Australian agriculture can provide a great model for countries to examine as they attempt to develop successful free market agriculture sectors, even in a world where protection is still very common. Professor Zhang-Yue Zhou is eminently suited to write this book as he grew up in rural China seeing the huge agricultural problems and government inter- ventions there, and has then been an intense researcher and keen observer of Australian and international agriculture for several decades. Zhang-Yue also has an irrepressible zeal and enthusiasm for agriculture, the world food problem, and the well-being of the farmers around the world. It is clear from what I have read that he has put in an enormous amount of effort on this subject and has produced a monumental piece of work that is a must-read for anyone interested in the development of agriculture today, in a free market economy and world. A major feature highlighted by the book is the institutional framework. The Australian Constitution bestows substantial powers to the states in making laws, policies and programmes for agriculture. This allows the states to tailor their institu- tions and policies to suit their substantially differing endowments and comparative ix

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