THE chief executive of the Department of Primary Industry and Fisheries has used the inaugural Northern Territory Field Days to outline his vision for the region’s path to agricultural prosperity.
While the concept of Australia becoming a food bowl for Asia has been debated at length recently, Alister Trier said he agreed with federal Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce that achieving such an ambitious goal was not realistic.
Instead, Mr Trier said he believed diversity would provide long-term growth for the Territory’s primary producers.
“I’d actually say that we’re not diverse enough in the first instance, in that our prime production are cattle; that’s our most significant contributor [in addition to] mangoes and melons,” he said.
“But then there are farmers looking at poppies; there’s a range of other agricultural crops that are being considered, chia, other things like that.
“I think what we’ve really got to look at are not individual commodities but things that work together that are profitable.
“So, that instead of focusing on our land resources as the mechanism to grow a commodity, we focus on the land mechanism as a resource to provide a range of products that diversify the risk in terms of market and production.
“The import thing is to be realistic and de-risk the hurdles that will definitely be in the way.”
Mr Trier said, while diversification in the paddock was one of the keys to agricultural growth, understanding and adapting to business practices in fledgling marketplaces was also critical.
“Culturally, Asian businesspeople are different to us and we’ve got to understand that,” he said.
“If we’re really going to realise those opportunities in Asia, we’ve got to do business on their terms, or at least gain trust and understanding between the different business cultures.
“My view is that Asian business is built on trust and relationships.
“If you don’t have the relationship, it doesn’t matter if the figures stack up.”
Admitting he saw Asia as “Australia’s future for the next 30 years”, Mr Trier said he believed NT primary producers had an undeniable edge over their cross-border agricultural counterparts.
“Our proximity is a big plus, but also culturally and climatically, we’re closer to Asia, and I think that’s another point that we’ve really got to maximise.”
