Primary industries and sustainability

Until relatively recent times our planet was regarded as a large natural system upon which human activity had very little impact. However, with the rise of industrial societies and the emergence of global phenomena such as climate change, people now wonder what the world might be like in the future if we continue to live the way we do. Many people believe we cannot sustain our current way of living. This concern has led to thinking about how best to sustain life on earth.

Primary industries are involved in the growing, harvesting, extracting and sometimes processing of natural resources, which form the basis of the products we use in our everyday lives. Primary industries are the first step in the chain of production which delivers most of our daily necessities. Knowing more about primary industries can help us understand more about living sustainably.

For primary industries, sustainability means having the capacity to continue operating perpetually by being adaptive managers and utilising the latest scientific knowledge to maintain the environment and natural resources, our communities and economies.

Sustainability isn’t achievable overnight. Some of the practices we have been historically using are now recognised as unsustainable. Science and research are yielding innovative new primary industries practices and many primary producers are working towards sustainability or using sustainable practices.

Just think of agriculture. Farmers are at the forefront of changing practices to maintain and even enhance the quality of their soil and water, minimise the amount of water they use, reduce the use of fertilisers, and much more.

Sustainability is complex and considered to be a relative rather than an absolute state; dynamic rather than static. In other words, sustainability is something we have to continue to work on. Why? Things are always changing - consider population, urban development and climate change for example.

Consider the case studies and overviews (below) to further understand sustainability and primary industries.

Overview: Sustainable agriculture in New South Wales

Taken from: I&I NSW, Policy for Sustainable Agriculture:
http://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/agriculture/resources/land/policies/sustainable

Agriculture represents a diverse sector of the NSW economy which includes the production, processing and marketing of food and fibre products. The substantial majority of the state's land resources and extracted water are used to produce more than $6 billion worth of high quality products, or around 30% of the annual national agricultural output.

Because of its complexity, a broad range of issues need to be considered when developing sustainable agricultural practices. Each is important but they must be addressed in a coordinated manner. They include:

• agricultural production
• land management
• water use and quality
• nature conservation on farms
• rural communities
• integrated management.

Agricultural production

Action by farmers to protect natural resources largely depends on profitable production. Development of best management practices, incentives, guidelines and training in farm business and risk management are necessary to promote the adoption of practices that are both sustainable and productive. This includes the care of animals and plants in a diverse and healthy farming system.

Alternative farming systems are emerging in response to consumer demand for organically grown food. Market demand for 'clean food' presents a strong incentive for the use of organic farming practices. The growth of markets for organic produce will help this industry continue to develop. Techniques trialled successfully on organic farms can be transferred to conventional farms.

Management of pests and weeds is vital to agricultural productivity. Activities in NSW are threatened by pests, including:

• rabbits
• feral pigs
• foxes
• wild dogs
• weeds, which can:
  • lower the productive capacity of land
  • threaten or displace native species
  • harbour feral animals
  • affect human and animal health.

Pest and weed control are therefore crucial for sustainable agriculture. However, concern remains about the toxic effects of over-use of chemicals and also, in relation to pesticides, about the loss of effectiveness.

Other concerns include the potential of chemical products to alter predator-prey relationships. Biological controls and integrated pest management strategies are being developed and implemented. With careful use of fertilisers, productivity will be enhanced while residues in products and in the environment generally are minimised.

Land management

Land is essential for agriculture. Unfortunately, in some instances, past activities and policies have had adverse impacts on land quality. This has especially been evident in:

• loss of native vegetation
• rising groundwater
• erosion
• dryland salinity
• soil acidification.

As some present land use practices can also compound problems in the long term, land should be managed to meet both present and future needs. This includes management of soil and vegetation, the control of pests and weeds and management of organic wastes.

Sustainable farming systems replace nutrients harvested as pasture and crop products to maintain nutrient balance in soils. The thin topsoils, which are common across Australia, make it essential for soil to be regarded as a non-renewable resource.

Native vegetation and also tree planting can protect agricultural land from soil erosion and salinity. Windbreaks can also improve productivity of crops, pastures and livestock. Shade trees can also play a part in reducing heat stress and increasing livestock productivity. Plans to preserve remnant native vegetation and to plant trees are therefore an important aspect of land management.

Despite their value, the use of chemicals can leave residues in both agricultural products and the environment. Fertilisers do not usually present a hazard if managed properly but they can pollute. Management is crucial to the issue of water use and quality and to prevent problems such as oxygen depletion. Farmers, government and the community in general all need to work together to manage existing residues in the environment.

Many organic waste products are disposed of into the general environment after varying levels of treatment, or they are stored in landfill. Nutrients, organic matter and water content in many waste products could, instead, be used for agricultural production. However, strict environmental assessment and controls would be needed to ensure that application of organic wastes to agricultural land matches the capacity of the system to efficiently use them.

Water use and quality

Australia is the world’s driest inhabited continent. Our fresh water is a limited resource and there are many competing demands for it. Water use and quality issues are closely linked to the land use and protection issues.

Irrigation has affected water quality and flow in many local and regional water tables, catchments and our major river systems, which are of great importance to agriculture and other industries. They also have environmental, urban, social and cultural significance.

The survival of our rivers depends not only on the quality and availability of water but also on the integrity of the overall ecological system. In particular, many land use and management practices have severely degraded the riverine environment and continue to do so.

Wetlands can contribute to improved water quality by recycling nutrients and by absorbing and breaking down pollutants. They also provide highly productive seasonal grazing and cropping, which contributes to enterprise diversity. Agriculturalists can help maintain wetlands by adopting production systems and practices that prevent over-drainage or pollution.

Groundwater systems are also important to agriculture and rural communities as a source of water for irrigation, livestock and household use. Extensive clearing of trees from the landscape has contributed to recharging groundwater systems in many areas. This results in rising groundwater levels and the bringing of salts to the surface. Excessive irrigation has even raised groundwater tables in some areas to a point where agricultural production is limited or no longer possible.

Groundwater quality and supply and water table levels need greater protection and management to achieve sustainable development. Groundwater is now also being considered in environmental impact assessments of developments involving water storage, tree clearing and floodplain management.

Nature conservation

Our biodiversity is a significant asset. Conservation of native plants and animals, along with habitat maintenance, are crucial to maintaining biodiversity which itself has significant benefits for agriculture, science and medicine.

Tree planting to link significant vegetation remnants can protect soil and water resources and provide shelter for livestock and crops. Habitats for the natural predators of agricultural pests can reduce pesticide use and conserve the plants and animals. Wetlands can contribute to biological diversity by providing plant life and wildlife habitat as well as animal breeding and nursery areas.

As a major user of land in NSW, agriculture has an important role to play in the conservation of native plants and animals. Nature conservation objectives therefore need to be incorporated into property, bio-regional and catchment management planning and into regional vegetation management plans.

Rural communities

The relationship between the agricultural sector and rural and regional communities is one of interdependence. Agriculture provides the economic base of many towns and rural communities. Conversely, agriculture often depends on many services provided by rural and regional centres. These can include:

• effective communication
• transport
• financial services
• networks for the supply of water and energy
• other agricultural products and services.

Towns also provide a social focus for people involved in their surrounding agricultural industries and are also the source of goods and services for the maintenance of general community welfare. Coordinated planning and management of services in rural and regional NSW is therefore important not only for long-term prosperity of rural communities but also productivity of agricultural industries.

Agricultural lands may also include places of value to the community such as Aboriginal sites of cultural importance and natural heritage areas. These places are not only irreplaceable but contribute to a sense of regional identity. They may have potential for activities such as tourism or education. Managing agricultural activities to avoid negative impacts will help ensure they survive for the future

Integrated management

For agriculture to operate in an environmentally sustainable manner, mechanisms are needed to facilitate cooperation between industry, government, local authorities and community groups.

Agricultural activities are under threat at the rural-urban interface across the state because population growth and urban expansion can result in the loss of prime agricultural lands. Adequate planning processes are needed to ensure that land best suited for agriculture is retained.

Urban encroachment and community concern over dust, odour and noise are placing increasing pressures on agricultural activities. State government agencies, local government, the agricultural sector and the wider community need to understand the issues and manage them through appropriate planning strategies and agricultural practices.

Overview: Sustainable fisheries in NSW

Commercial and recreational fishers jointly place direct pressure on fish stocks. Increasingly, commercial and recreational fishers are competing for limited fisheries resources in estuarine and coastal waters. So conservation and management is now based on the principle of sustainable harvesting.

This means that the fish and other organisms harvested are replaced by natural breeding or restocking, with no long-term effect on the diversity of species and size of populations.

The non-fishing community also has an impact on fish stocks by placing environmental pressure on aquatic habitats. This occurs through processes such as:

• urban and rural runoff, which carries pollutants into waterways;
• sewage and industrial discharges;
• littering;
• habitat degradation.

Other people using the marine environment, like scuba divers and recreational boaters, can also have indirect impacts on fish stocks.

Within the framework of ecologically sustainable development, two methods, 'restricted' and 'share management', are used for the management of commercial fishing:

• A restricted fishery is a fishery with limitations on the number of fishers able to participate, controlled by issuing licence endorsements on the basis of access criteria set by the NSW Minister for Primary Industries.
• A share management fishery is a fishery with limitations on the number of fishers able to participate, controlled by the allocation of shares and the setting of a minimum shareholding requirement before fishing is permitted.

The management of commercial fisheries under these arrangements also makes use of input and output controls. Input controls affect how fish may be harvested and include limitations on the amount of gear used, size of boats, days worked or areas worked. Output controls specify the amount of fish which can be taken over a given period.

A good example of how input controls work is the juvenile king prawn closure near the mouth of the Richmond River at Ballina. King prawns live in the estuaries as juveniles and migrate to the ocean during the young adult stage of their life cycle. This makes them vulnerable to capture at a small size by prawn trawlers.

To protect the stocks of smaller prawns and to increase the value of the prawns sold, prawn boats are prohibited from trawling within an area bounded by a 2.2 nautical mile radius from the mouth of the Richmond River. This management measure also helps to reduce the capture of juvenile fish in prawn trawl nets.

As well as the principles of ecologically sustainable development, NSW Government decisions relating to fisheries matters are also based on the precautionary principle. This states that when there are threats of serious or irreversible damage, the lack of full scientific certainty should not be used as a reason for postponing measures to prevent degradation.

The number of commercially licensed fishers in NSW peaked during the late 1970s at about 4300 fishers. Since then there has been a gradual decline in the number of operators in NSW waters. In 2008 there are around 1000 licensed commercial fishers using more than 40 different fishing methods, including some of the most advanced catching technologies available.

(Source: I&I NSW)