The need for the federal government to increase investment in information and research for the future successful development of the horticulture industry is outlined in Growcom’s election statement (see A Healthy Horticulture for a Healthy Australia www.growcom.com.au). This includes improving internet and telecommunications infrastructure in regional Australia.
Growcom welcomed the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Industry’s report, Smart Farming into agricultural innovation in May which made 17 recommendations to the federal government The first five of these called for improved internet and telecommunications in regional Australia, including:
- CSIRO should undertake a technical study to identify cost-effective approaches to using satellite services as backhaul for local wireless networks for agricultural applications.
- The Mobile Black Spot Programme should continue beyond the second round, and the Department of Communications and the Arts should better capture the telecommunications requirements of agricultural activity.
- The federal government should investigate incentives for mobile network operators to provide roaming services in rural and remote areas.
Clearly, this inquiry recognised the pivotal role of the internet and telecommunications in the delivery of government and private sector services to regional areas. Sectors of the community are currently being disenfranchised through the inadequacy of the technology.
Growcom’s federal election statement also calls for a boost in public and private investment in improved statistical data collection and analysis regarding horticultural industries in line with the services provided for the broadacre and livestock sectors.
We were pleased to see the Smart Farming report echoes this in calling for the federal government to provide assistance and support the pursuit of farming benchmarking and support the development of national data sets (Recommendation 8).
Horticulture’s first Bench Marking Program, Hort360, would provide the federal government with a valuable vehicle for collecting a range of anonymised data from farmers in Queensland horticulture and this model could be introduced to other states.
Australia’s current decline in agricultural productivity growth is clearly linked to falling investment in agricultural research, development and extension (RD&E).
We ask that the federal government’s contribution to agricultural RD&E programs be returned to 5 per cent of industry gross value of production (GVP) with commitment to the current Rural Research and Development Corporate model, including government matching of industry levies.
- The Smart Farming – Inquiry into Agricultural Innovation report is available on the committee’s website: bit.ly/23WQkV2
