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KEEPING IT SWEET SUSTAINABILITY AND SUGAR CANE by Larry Geno edited by Jason Alexandra KEEPING IT SWEET:- SUSTAINABILITY AND SUGAR CANE Larry Geno edited by Jason Alexandra Australian Conservation Foundation 340 Gore Street,Fitzroy, 3065. Ph. 03 94161166 Fax 03 94160767 281115XB PRODUCED BY THE AUSTRALIAN CONSERVATION FOUNDATION 340 Gore Street Fitzroy Vic 3065 ph (03) 9416 1166, fax (03) 9416 0767 Copyright ACF 1996 ARBN 007498482 ISBN 0 85802 123 4 Acknowledgments Dedicated to the cane farmers of Mackay. Specifically we would like to thank all those who contributed to project by participating in the project through coming to the workshops, reviewing documents etc. ACF would like to thank the following: - • Larry Geno for consulting with the growers, doing the project research and writing the basis of this report; • Jason Alexandra for project management, editing Larry's report and developing the ACF recommendations; • Christine Lander for project administration and layout. • Sandra Haffenden for final layout. And to others too numerous to mention who assisted in the project work. • John Cameron and Jane Elix whose ideas generated the project. Finally we acknowledge the financial support of the Commonwealth Government's National Landcare Program. Background to the project This report examines the practicalities of moving towards more sustainable cane farming and is an outcome of an extended project investigating the adoption of sustainable sugar cane farming practices in the Mackay district of Queensland. This document: — describes a unique participatory research project which explores the application of sustainability principles to cane farming in the Mackay area of Queensland. — outlines the participatory process used to identify issues, constraints and opportunities in moving toward more sustainable systems in cane farming. — and hopefully will assist in improving the environmental performance of cane production in coastal Queensland and elsewhere. Cane farming is widely regarded as an industry with major environmental impacts but therefore with great scope for improvement. The project is one of the Australian Conservation Foundation's regional studies into sustainable agriculture and has been made possible by funds provided by the National Soil Conservation Program (now called the National Landcare Program). Two earlier ACF regional studies focused on Queensland's mulga lands and northern New South Wales wheat/sheep systems. These resulted in the ACF publication Recovering Ground. A further case study of the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area (MIA) resulted in a report The Challenge of Working Together. ACF's National Landcare Program Project pioneers practical applications of ESD theory within established agricultural industries. All three studies attempt to assist regional communities to define the dynamics and nature of sustainable landuse by applying a case study approach. The ACF case studies combine consultation and scientific research in an effort to define issues, opportunities and priorities for change. It is hoped that this approach will help accelerate the shift towards sustainable landuse. People directly involved in the industry were consulted extensively to provide guidance in policy reform and industry direction. The project relied on community participation and adopted a broad definition of sustainability which included environmental, economic, and social dimensions. The proposal to undertake the case study into the sugar industry was first conceived by the ACF in late 1989, however funding for this work from the National Soil Conservation Program was only approved in 1992. The ACF advertised for a consultant. The contract for the consultative and research phase of the project was awarded to independent consultants in organic and sustainable land use; Agroecology Associates of Lismore, New South Wales. The principal of Agroecology Associates, Larry Geno, implemented the research and industry consultation phase between September 1992 to June 1993. This involved the following three phases: iv Phase I - Where are we now? - descriptive: defining the current situation and the nature of sustainability for cane growing in and around Mackay. Phase 2 - What is the sustainable cane farming system/where do we want to be? - Scenario building: developing scenarios of what a sustainable sugarcane farming system in Mackay might look like in 50 years. Phase 3 - Planning for action: How do we get there from here and how do we know? establishing how to get from the current situation to a sustainable one; identifying practical opportunities and limitations, and who will need to do what. More detailed descriptions of the project methodology are contained in the main text. The consultants report to the ACF was refined by a further stage of review during which this document was circulated, reviewed and recommendations developed and refined. This document, therefore, has three main sources: (1) Larry Geno's documentation of survey responses and workshops arising from the consultative phase; (2) secondary materials gathered by research; and (3) conclusions and recommendations developed from the project by the consultants and the ACF. In this document, we start with conclusions and recommendations, followed by a summary of research, before presenting community generated descriptions of current farming practices, scenarios of future cane farming and a mud map of how to get there. It is worth noting that during the consultative phase of the project growers were not presented with any outside information on either the sugar industry or ecological sustainability until after they generated their definitions of the current status of Mackay cane farming through involvement in phase one. This forms chapters 4-9 of this report. At the end of this first stage, the consultant circulated the documentation of the consultation for feedback, plus ideas about sustainability (Chapter 1), the environmental performance of the sugar industry (Chapter 2) and conditions in the Mackay region (Chapter 3) derived from literature reviews. Based on the findings of this project work, the ACF has developed a set of recommendations which we believe are crucial to achieving a more sustainable sugar industry. Many of these recommendations concentrate on R & D as we believe that it is this sector which can provide the techniques, technologies and intellectual leadership to accelerate the transition to a sustainable industry. This will only develop if better relationships are established between the practitioners, farmers and researchers. Harnessing this potential requires R&D organisations to critically examine their roles, responsibilities and goals, and work out with the industry how these can be best achieved. We have no doubt that many growers recognise the scope for improving the performance of their industry — it is now important that their representative organisations and those funded to work on solving the industry problems and preparing it for the challenge of the 21st century also accept the ESD challenge. Addendum Since this report was finalised there have been a number of events which effect the recommendations outlined. Most significantly, in 1995 the Cooperative Research Centre for Sustainable Sugar Production was established. This CRC is a collaborative and unincorporated joint venture between the sugar industry, public research and development agencies and tertiary education institutions. The CRC's mission is to 'conduct excellent, collaborative and multi-disciplinary research, development and extension to build the knowledge, skills and technology for a sustainable and environmentally responsible Australian sugar industry.' It is hoped that the CRC will adopt a number of the recommendations detailed in this report. The Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) is represented on the CRC's Advisory Committee and Environmental Protection Program Consultative Group and welcomes the opportunity for direct input into future research and monitoring projects of the sugar industry. Keeping It Sweet - ACF TABLE OF CONTENTS ABBREVIATIONS USED 7 SECTION 1: SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 8 ACHIEVING A SUSTAINABLE SUGAR CANE INDUSTRY - CAN IT BE DONE? 8 A Scenario for Sustainable Cane Farming - 2013 ad 10 Government And Growers — Policies And Practices 11 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 14 What Does 'Sustainable Cane Farming' Mean? 14 Sustainability Planning And Education - Whose Responsibility? 15 Sugar Industry Planning 16 Resource Barriers to Adoption of Sustainable Cane Farming 19 Institutional Barriers 26 Secrecy and Science For Agribusiness 28 Effective Research and Extension — Farmers First 31 Regionalism, Centralism and ESD Strategy Planning 33 Landcare, landcare and Sustainable Agriculture 35 SECTION 2: LITERATURE REVIEWS 38 1 DEFINITIONS OF SUSTAINABILITY FOR AGRICULTURE: A BRIEF REVIEW 38 Introduction 38 1.1 Ecologically Sustainable Development (ESD) 38 1.2 Historical Evolution of the Concept 38 1.3 Definitions Of Agricultural Sustainability 40 1.4 Some Principles of Sustainable Agriculture 41 2 CANE FARMING IN QUEENSLAND: A BRIEF REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE 44 2.1 The Cane Plant: Saccharum Officinarum 44 2 _Keeping It Sweet - ACF 2.2. Environmental Impacts of Cane Farming 44 2.2.1 Soil Loss 44 2.2.2 Declining Soil Quality 47 2.2.3 Herbicides and Insecticides 48 2.2.4 Water Use 51 2.3 Nutrient Pollution of the Great Barrier Reef 51 2.4 Carbon Cycle/Nitrogen Cycle and the Greenhouse Effect 53 2.5 Benefits Of Green Harvesting 54 54 2.5.1 Soil