Industry lobby group Grain Producers South Australia has rejected claims a government program could "revolutionise" grain production in the state, saying the cost to implement it would make it unviable for growers, ABC News reports.
The State Government's New Horizons program
uses deep incorporation of clay and organic matter in soil to boost fertility.
Agriculture Minister Leon Bignell this week
announced results of three trial sites, saying yields increased by 50 to 100
per cent and even up to 300 per cent for some varieties.
Mr Bignell described the program as a
revolution in agriculture that proved growers did not need access to genetic
modification technology, which only promised yield increases of about seven per
cent.
GPSA chief executive Darren Arney said the
trial results were "amazing" but the cost of replicating them on a
commercial scale would put most growers off.
"If you were to roll [the program] out
over a million hectares you're probably talking close to Aus$1 billion of
additional capital investment," Mr Arney said.
"We're talking 150 million tonnes of
soil potentially having to be moved from one spot to another; that's going to
be a significant cost.
"Plus you've got to find the organic
matter from somewhere to put into this soil process, plus you'll have to bring
some fertility into it as well."
Mr Arney supported the principles behind
New Horizons but suggested the Government should provide financial support if
it wanted growers to change their systems.
"The South Australian economy is
riding well and truly on agriculture and grains is a significant contributor to
that of over Aus$2 billion," he said.
"To bring a million hectares of extra
land up to speed, if that's the number, it will take a significant amount of
work and there will be plenty of jobs to go around."
Read more HERE.
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