FORWARD thinking cane farmers will gather in Townsville from Sunday, March 1 to Tuesday, March 3, to share ideas, outcomes and celebrate major steps being taken to improve the environmental and economic outcomes of Queensland sugar production at the Project Catalyst Growers Forum.
The Project Catalyst Growers Forum 2015 will highlight outcomes of growers working as part of Project Catalyst to reduce the impact of pollution on the Great Barrier Reef. Under the program, cane farmers in catchment areas adjacent to the reef are supported to make changes to reduce nutrient, fertiliser and pollutant runoff.
To date, 78 cane farmers involved in Project Catalyst farm trials have helped improve runoff and drainage water quality of an estimated 102,000 megalitres – an amount equivalent to the water it would take to fill 40,000 Olympic sized swimming pools.
Trials have been implemented across 20,345 ha of land during the six years the program has been running.
Critically, work being done by Queensland cane farmers is now estimated to cut pollutant loads to the reef by about 183 tonnes each year.
Reef Catchments CEO Robert Cocco said the primary purpose of Project Catalyst is to reduce the environmental footprint that sugarcane has on freshwater and the Great Barrier Reef.
“We do this by supporting a network of innovative farmers that are speeding the adoption of cutting edge management practices,” Mr Cocco said.
Tony Bugeja, Project Catalyst cane farmer from Mackay, said he was a firm believer in combining environmental responsibility and good sense.
“As the saying goes, there is no point being green if you’re in the red. But we have found in our experience that it comes down to just doing things more efficiently – when there is a dollar value and an improved environmental outcome, why wouldn’t you try something different?” Mr Bugeja said.
To me, everybody should be worried about things like soil erosion and water quality. I want to leave this farm and land for my son in a better condition than when it was given to me,” he said.
Now in its sixth year, Project Catalyst is a pioneering partnership between cane farmers, The Coca Cola Foundation, WWF-Australia, Catchment Solutions, NQ Dry Tropics and Terrain NRM.
Farmers are involved from major areas of sugar production and corresponding NRM catchments in Mackay and the Whitsundays, the Burdekin and the Wet Tropics.