Growcom has commended the new Federal Agriculture Minister’s recent comments on the need for climate change adaptation and push for Australia to ‘use the best science possible’.
David Littleproud has welcomed the agreement of agriculture ministers to support adaptation to climate change in agriculture, saying there is a “need to help farmers adapt and change as the climate changes”.
We are pleased Mr Littleproud has taken a leadership stance on the issue and encourage the Federal and State governments to provide true support for climate adaptation and renewable solutions for farmers through investment.
Growcom has taken a proactive stance on the issue of climate change and variability for the past decade and has employed a climate and resilience officer in that period.
We have worked to identify the critical temperature thresholds for many horticulture commodities and the need for adaptation and resilience to extreme weather events through a climate module for our Hort360 BMP program.
Fundamentally we need an implementation mechanism for the Queensland Agriculture Sector Adaptation Plan, along with a similar strategic approach at a national level that is backed by government funding.
The Queensland Agriculture Sector Adaptation Plan outlines key actions that include: better industry access to climate hazard information; continued development of tools and resources that support management decision making; support to the delivery of engagement programs; better access to agriculture insurance; exploring mechanisms to enable climate risk management and climate adaptation across the supply chains; and enhancing investment in innovation and resilience programs.
We strongly contend that timely investment is needed to address the natural disasters that our growers face which will save our national economy more money in the long term.
Horticulture is the canary in the coal mine when it comes to climate change as many of our commodities have quite specific temperature requirements and are highly vulnerable to extreme weather events.
Now is the time to act on climate change to ensure that we have the right approaches in place and a supportive operating environment that allows innovative farmers to thrive.