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Farmers Still No Closer To Understanding CPRS Impacts On Agriculture
Canberra, Australia (SPX) Nov 11, 2008 Australian farmers are still no closer to understanding the full impacts of the Government's proposed Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS) on the agriculture sector following the release of the Treasury modelling, according to the National Farmers' Federation (NFF). While farmers hope that the Treasury forecasts of Australia's economy continuing to prosper under the CPRS are correct, they are finding little comfort that the direct and indirect impacts from a CPRS on their farm businesses will be as kind. "It is hard to refute the Treasury's suggestion that Australian agriculture would have a competitive advantage in a low-emission world," said Gerald Leach, Chair of the NFF Climate Change Working Group. "However, it is what happens to this competitive advantage if Australia moves unilaterally on developing a CPRS, and particularly the treatment of agriculture within this framework that has farmers concerned. Australia's farmers want to see the modelling outcomes assuming our global competitors do not follow suit. "Further, the productivity growth assumptions used for agriculture is another issue that we will be taking up with the Government on the CPRS modelling. "The NFF's initial analysis suggests that agriculture will struggle to meet the productivity levels suggested without a significant injection of new funding towards agricultural productivity based research and development (R and D). "Recent times have seen existing agricultural productivity R and D being eroded due to drought and competing R and D needs such as climate change mitigation research. Australian agriculture's proud record of productivity growth cannot be maintained without significant new money invested in R and D. "On a separate but important matter, the Treasury modelling reinforces that when we are talking about agriculture and land use, we need to look much deeper than merely at number driven results. "The Treasury modelling acknowledges that their forecasts on changes in regional land use resulting from the CPRS, which predict a 5-40 million hectare increase in plantation forests, do not take into account the broader environmental suitability of such changes occurring. "At this time of water scarcity, it is vital that land-use decisions are made in the context of the broader environment - this includes elements such as water and biodiversity." Related Links National Farmers' Federation (NFF) Farming Today - Suppliers and Technology
Melamine-tainted milk products found in Vietnam
Hanoi (AFP) Oct 3, 2008Vietnam's food safety watchdog said Friday it had found the industrial chemical melamine in 18 milk and dairy products imported from China as well as Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia. |
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