Development of an Irrigation RD&E Program for the
Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture
Report on preliminary consultations
July 2014
Alexandra &
Associates Pty Ltd
Development of an Irrigation RD&E Program for the Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture
Report on preliminary consultations
Alexandra & Associates Pty Ltd
Alexandra & Associates Pty Ltd
16 Homestead Rd │ Eltham │ Victoria │ 3095
Mobile: 0407 943 916 │ Email: [email protected]
Macquarie Franklin
112 Wright Street | East Devonport | Tasmania | 7310
Phone: 03 6427 5300 | Fax: 03 6427 0876 | Email: [email protected]
Web: www.macquariefranklin.com.au
Primary author:
Jason Alexandra
Alexandra & Associates
Contributions by:
Mel Rae & Chris Thompson
Macquarie Franklin
Rohan Nelson
Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture
Document status:
Final
This report has been prepared in accordance with the scope of services described in the contract or
agreement between Macquarie Franklin, Alexandra & Associates and the Client. Any findings, conclusions
or recommendations only apply to the aforementioned circumstances and no greater reliance should be
assumed or drawn by the Client. Furthermore, the report has been prepared solely for use by the Client
and Macquarie Franklin and Alexandra & Associates accept no responsibility for its use by other parties.
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Development of an Irrigation RD&E Program for the Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture
Report on preliminary consultations
Contents
1
Executive summary ......................................................................................................................... 1
2
Introduction and context ................................................................................................................ 2
3
Future R&D directions - Key themes............................................................................................... 4
3.1
Consultation and project briefings.......................................................................................... 4
3.2
Synthesis of consultation findings .......................................................................................... 4
3.3
Viable and competitive industries .......................................................................................... 5
3.3.1
Emerging issues ............................................................................................................... 5
3.3.2
Discussion........................................................................................................................ 6
3.4
Food cultural/landscape systems ........................................................................................... 7
3.4.1
Emerging issues ............................................................................................................... 7
3.4.2
Discussion........................................................................................................................ 8
3.5
Sustainable resource management ........................................................................................ 9
3.5.1
Emerging issues ............................................................................................................... 9
3.5.2
Discussion...................................................................................................................... 10
3.6
Innovation and entrepreneurship ......................................................................................... 11
3.6.1
Emerging issues ............................................................................................................. 11
3.6.2
Discussion...................................................................................................................... 12
4
Concluding comments .................................................................................................................. 13
5
Literature cited.............................................................................................................................. 14
6
Appendices attached .................................................................................................................... 15
6.1
Appendix 1: Project summary handout ................................................................................ 16
6.2
Appendix 2: Consultation briefings ....................................................................................... 17
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Development of an Irrigation RD&E Program for the Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture
Report on preliminary consultations
1 Executive summary
This document summarises preliminary findings of stakeholder consultation on future RD&E priorities
for irrigated agriculture in Tasmania. The Tasmanian Government and the Tasmanian Institute of
Agriculture (TIA) commissioned a project to identify RD&E priorities to support the investment in
irrigation infrastructure across Tasmania (Attachment 1). Alexandra & Associates and Macquarie
Franklin were appointed as consultants and completed the project in June 2014.
A series of project briefings and stakeholder consultations took place in the week ending 14 March
2014. Additional consultations were conducted via phone and face-to-face interviews. About 70
people were involved in the consultation, representing in roughly equal proportions: 1) irrigators,
farmer peak bodies and agribusiness companies; 2) policy advisors in government agencies; and 3) the
R&D and tertiary education sector. (Attachment 2 lists the organisations consulted).
The main themes emerging from the consultation include the need for future RD&E for:
1. Viable and competitive industries – realising opportunities from irrigation, including through
optimal production systems and marketing, branding, quality assurance, new crops, tapping
into emerging markets and facilitating development opportunities;
2. Food cultural/landscape systems - understanding production landscapes as the integration
of material, energy and cultural systems. Water, energy, food system linkages and
relationships, and the need for these to be better understood to support effective policy,
governance and business decisions;
3. Sustainable resource management – approaches to monitoring and minimising risks from
intensification of land and water use such as salinization, water logging, eutrophication, flow
stress, and species loss; and
4. Innovation and entrepreneurship – foster the skills, governance arrangements and networks
for managing complexity and facilitating cooperation across industries and along value chains.
Future RD&E programs need to be designed with awareness of the changing context and business
environment in ways that:
1. Enhance value chains and support regional economic diversification;
2. Generate knowledge and disseminate information to enhance decisions in the public and
private sectors; and
3. Build greater capacity for leadership, professionalism and entrepreneurship.
These preliminary consultations were undertaken prior to a two-day foresighting workshop with TIA
and its stakeholders (a separate report on the workshop is available on TIA’s website). Together these
outputs were used to develop a collaborative national Irrigation RD&E Program for Tasmania.
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Development of an Irrigation RD&E Program for the Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture
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2 Introduction and context
The continuing development and wider adoption of irrigation represents a significant shift in
Tasmanian agriculture and is continuing to reshape the physical, business and operational
environment.
Expansion of irrigation continues with considerable public and private investment in new schemes and
on-farm production systems. It is estimate that the recent combined public and private investment in
expanding irrigation systems exceeds a billion dollars. This expansion builds on a long history of
irrigation development in Tasmania. Planning for further expansion is underway.
Irrigation water resources are managed in a variety of ways in Tasmania. Tasmanian Irrigation Pty Ltd
(TI) was established on 1 July 2011 as single state-owned company responsible for the development
and operation of publicly funded irrigation schemes. The schemes that Tasmanian Irrigation is building
and operating will account for approximately 20% of all water used, while the balance is managed
directly by the Tasmanian Government.
The development of water resources infrastructure and on-farm irrigated production systems needs
to be complemented by RD&E that will contribute to the long-term viability, sustainability and
international competiveness of Tasmania’s agricultural industries.
Relative to the expenditure on watering infrastructure (“hardware”), a small investment in targeted
RD&E supporting better understanding, management and governance arrangements and skilled
people - in other words the “soft-systems infrastructure” - could make significant long-term
contributions to Tasmania’s economic development and ensure greater capacity for managing natural
resources sustainably.
While the intensification of land and water use provides considerable opportunities, there are also
sizable commercial and environmental risks. Many of these are well known from interstate and
overseas experience, yet it is important that this knowledge and risk management capability is tailored
to Tasmanian conditions.
Irrigation operates at the intersection of the public sectors’ responsibilities for water resources and
the private sectors’ responsibilities and aspirations for profitable enterprises.
As an overarching principle, it is proposed that future RD&E focuses on ways to ensure that
opportunities are realised, whilst the impacts of unacceptable risks are minimised.
Commercial risk-taking in the private sector provides a platform for innovation, whilst public policy
focuses on information and incentives that encourage investment and sustainability. Indeed, it is
worth emphasising that Tasmania needs to create an operating environment supportive of an
innovative, diverse and entrepreneurial private sector, whilst ensuring policy and regulatory settings
conductive to attracting investment and ensuring sustainable resource use. These two dimensions of
irrigation development and RD&E should be seen as complementary and compatible, not antagonistic.
Agri-food industries are operating in increasingly complex business environments spanning primary,
secondary and tertiary industry sectors and the interactions between business, the community and
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Development of an Irrigation RD&E Program for the Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture
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the environment. Therefore it is useful to have an explicit focus on food systems as an integration of
the human and physical system – the interplay of the “natural” and cultural aspects of food systems –
and not simply conceived of as supply chains.
The idea of food systems extends beyond the “supply or value chain” concepts which are principally
conceived of as a series of commercial relationships. Food and landscape systems take into account
the wider cultural context with histories, geographies and societal feedbacks, incorporating the sense
people have of shaping their communities, their landscapes and their futures, through many and
varied choices.
By having a food systems view, RD&E will promote the synergies of working across many relevant
domains of theory and practice. For example, there are likely to be growth opportunities and synergies
in agricultural RD&E being linked to innovation and the people and businesses involved in Tasmania’s
food, wine and gourmet and nature tourism sectors.
Tasmania has a clear imperative to do this and to seize a range of opportunities for employment
creation and economic diversification (see West 2009, 2013).
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Development of an Irrigation RD&E Program for the Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture
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3 Future R&D directions - Key themes
3.1 Consultation and project briefings
During March 2014, a series of briefing were held with stakeholders likely to have an interest in the
project.
Prior to consultations, a project summary handout (Appendix 1) was supplied to participants. A
PowerPoint presentation was used at some briefings. Each of the briefing session covered all or some
of the following discussions points:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
An overview of this project and its objectives;
A brief discussion on irrigation expansion in Tasmania (recent and projected) and its
downstream implications to agricultural sector;
Opportunities for discussion on improving Tasmania's innovation systems in irrigated
agriculture and downstream industries;
Discussion on irrigation, regional development and the roles of government and the
private sector in economic diversification;
Discussion on future priorities directions for agricultural R&D&E;
Change management – processes, outcomes – what would success look like?
Further consultation, the scenarios – the rest of the project and beyond - what will be the
big drivers of change in Tasmania in the next 15 years?
How will R&D help shape preferred futures? What will contribute to competitive
advantage? and
Discussion on possible structure and models for funding and organising agricultural R&D
in Tasmania – who pays?
Many outstanding ideas and a wide range of perspectives were presented during these consultations.
Further ideas emerged from a subsequent foresighting workshop. This document was an interim
output from the project, prepared to provide consolidated feedback on initial consultations.
3.2 Synthesis of consultation findings
The issues and RD&E priorities emerging from the consultations can be clustered into the following
themes or groups:
1. Viable and competitive industries. RD&E will generate and disseminate knowledge and build
capability for greater efficiency, scale in existing industries and explore the potential and
prospects for new industries in Tasmania including through new crops and cropping systems.
Work under this theme fits broadly within the mandate of the RDC’s and they are likely to be
one of the main funders.
2. Understanding production landscapes and food cultural systems. This theme would focus on
improving capacity for marketing, value chain enhancement, facilitation of dynamic industry
clusters and support for longer-term goals of regional economic development. This work
would be focused on understanding and improving linkages, networks and clusters that are
able to generate capacity to deliver reliable, high quality and higher value products and
services.
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3. Sustainable resource management – including integrated water resources management
(IWRM). RD&E would focus on sustainable landscapes, communities and the continuing
productivity of the natural resource base for industries. It would explore regulations that are
competitively neutral and that facilitate sustainable industry development.
4. Innovation and entrepreneurship. A consistent theme throughout the consultation was the
need to foster the tacit element of human capital that lead to innovation and entrepreneurial
investment. This included but went beyond skill development to include establishing
governance arrangements for negotiating complexity and access to quality assured
information with lower transaction costs. It also included the need for networks to foster
collaboration and cooperation across industries and along value chains.
3.3 Viable and competitive industries
3.3.1 Emerging issues
This theme covers a wide range of RD&E that would generate and disseminate knowledge and build
capability for greater efficiency, scale in existing industries and explore the potential and prospects
for new industries in Tasmania including through developing new crops and cropping systems.
The context for irrigation RD&E is changing, with large scale irrigation development moving into new
areas (like the Midlands). Many Tasmanian farmers are embarking on irrigation investment for the
first time or expanding the scale or types of enterprises. RD&E can play critical roles in providing
confidence during such conversions and ensuring capacity to adopt better techniques, technologies
and management practices
Work under this theme will contribute to ensuring Tasmania has globally competitive industries,
capable of responding to increasingly complex demands for quality, and reliability of supply.
Key questions or issues identified included:
-
-
-
What are the key opportunities for increasing efficiency and cost-competiveness of existing
enterprises and production systems?
What cropping systems, rotations or methods are suitable for increasing production in the
short term whilst also sustaining production in the long term?
What are the key NRM constraints and how should these be managed?
How should the risk inherent in new districts or marginal soil types be managed?
What are the key motivational factors for farmers converting to irrigation systems of
production and what are the constraints to adoption?
What are the best options / technology / practices for maximising the productivity of soils
whilst minimising degradation and unacceptable environmental impacts on the surrounding
environment?
RD&E for precision irrigation systems (PIS) capable of applying just enough water to meet crop
demands without causing subsoil waterlogging, recharge of groundwater (salinity), subsurface
lateral flow, and off site nutrient movement.
What are options and adoption pathways for PIS technology?
What are the economics of PIS and how can sensor technology be combined with and enable
more targeted variable rate irrigation?
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-
How can “best practice” and continuous improvement systems be promoted and adopted
more widely?
Is a program of intensive farming benchmarking and monitoring required?
What parameters and indicators are useful to support quality and sustainability claims?
Can short and medium term climate and watershed yield predictions – streamflow forecasting
- be used to improve water resources planning and crop water use decisions?
How can efficiency of energy, water and nutrients be optimised?
What are the “best” new crops and products to invest RD&E in?
How can changing patterns of global demand be determined and responded to?
How can Tasmania undertake dynamic land and water capability assessment at a landscape
scale that incorporates landuse, demographic and climate change?
Can Tasmania continue to attract “climate change” investor and “refugees” from
agribusinesses on the mainland or overseas?
What are the options for overcoming skills shortages? How can Tasmania attract skilled
managers and operators from overseas and interstate?
What kinds of education and training works?
What are the best production systems and models for large-scale new dairies in the Midlands?
What problems are likely to be encountered in these systems?
What kinds of investment facilitation are required? How can expansion of the processors and
farm production be better coordinated?
What kinds of business model innovations are required?
How can Tasmanian agriculture build on its involvement in agri-wine tourism?
What are the best systems for shared learning and transfer of best practice with different
industries?
What are the roles of the different industry based extensions networks – eg poppy industry
has approximately 50 field officers?
How can the next generation of industry leaders and entrepreneurs be developed?
Are there better models to promote enterprise learning? Are mentors and master classes
needed?
How can Tasmania build on the poppy industry with other bioactive crops?
What are the opportunities for cross commodity cooperation both on farm, regionally and
through value chains. For example: feed grains to dairy feed; waste to fertiliser; milk to cheese
and farm products to gourmet food?
3.3.2 Discussion
Work under this theme fits broadly within the mandate of the RDC’s and they are likely to continue to
invest. However, there is currently no cross-industry coordination mechanism for coordinating RD&E
on irrigation. The industries that may be able to attract RDC funds towards a strategic program of
irrigation RD&E include: dairy, grains, meat, wool, perennial and annual horticulture, and viticulture.
Furthermore, there are significant synergies and linkages across industries using irrigation. These
linkages occur in time (within on-farm rotations eg grains, poppies, fodder crops) across farming
landscapes (eg between dryland and irrigated feed sources for livestock) and across regions and along
value chains (outputs of one industry are inputs into another such as grains for livestock feed).
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Development of an Irrigation RD&E Program for the Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture
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In addition to work focusing on improving the profitability of existing industries, there is a rationale
for R&D investment in new crop development. TIA could develop a program focus on identifying and
developing the capacity to introduce new and novel crops to Tasmania, with a particular emphasis on
bio actives.
Tasmania has two established industries focused on producing bioactive compounds – opium poppies
grown for medical narcotics and pyrethrum grown for the insecticidal pyrethroids. If we count
essential oils – there are already three such industries.
The potential value of systematic efforts at developing new crops for specific purposes is supported
by the findings of New Pharmaceutical, Nutraceutical and Industrial Product (RIRDC 2000). Tasmania
has potential to supply new cultivated crops that have significant growth prospects. A paper in the
journal Science (Vol 228), Balandrin, M.F. et al (1985) identified that many plants produce
economically important organic compounds such as oils, resins, fragrances, pharmaceuticals and
pesticides. They found that:
-
most species of higher plants have never been surveyed for chemical or biological active
constituents;
- new sources of commercially valuable materials remain to be discovered;
- new technologies will enhance the usefulness of plants as renewable sources of valuable
chemicals;
- biologically active plant-derived chemicals can be expected to be increasingly significant in for
insect and pest control;
- increased effort in identifying bioactive compounds is justified; and
- often unique combination of compounds that leads to highly sought after products.
Furthermore, R&D in the areas relating to the processing and advanced manufacturing of existing,
food and fibre (including wood fibres) could be justified on the grounds that it is likely to be the
transformation of processing businesses that will generate the sustained demand for the raw
materials of primary industries.
It is important that the kinds of RD&E that could result in new crops and transformed processing
industries are not conceived of as simply technical. There are challenges in attracting and facilitating
investment at all stages of the value chain and other challenges in moving from highly prospective
opportunities to commercial realities. Many respondents emphasised the need for developing skills
and entrepreneurship to support the development of innovative business models and value chains.
Targeted and responsive RD&E can conceivably provide some of the critical stepping-stones for new
industries and economic transformations.
3.4 Food cultural/landscape systems
3.4.1 Emerging issues
A wide range of RD&E priorities would sit within the theme of understanding food systems and
landscapes as cultural and business systems. It would focus on improving value chains and their
linkages, facilitating industry investment and supporting regional economic development.
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Development of an Irrigation RD&E Program for the Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture
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This work would need to be focused on understanding and improving linkages, networks and regional
industry groupings (some time referred to as economic clusters) that have the capacity to deliver
reliable, high quality and higher value products.
The kinds of questions identified here included:
-
How will global food security be met in the near term and the longer term? Where should we
look for solutions?
Will growth in urban agriculture and food systems be a long-term trend?
Are there radical new models of food production that need exploration?
How does agricultural production on-farm link with food practices and cultures beyond the
farm?
What is the nature of the current linkages between producers and urban food retailers,
provedores and restaurateurs?
How do food systems interact with urban metabolism?
What are the links between food abundance, welfare and political stability?
How are the roles of farmers as innovator and expert managers changing?
What roles are private sector RD&E providers in promoting better business and NRM
decisions?
How can the state facilitate cooperation and excellence in industry sectors?
What kinds of international linkages and exposures ensure collaboration and innovation?
What are the linkages between the “arts” industry and the food and wine sectors?
How do beliefs and reputation for product quality interact?
How do we build capacity to realise critical opportunities in value chains?
Are there specific unrealised opportunities in the Tasmanian food, wine and tourism sectors?
Is it possible to avoid the downfalls of “commoditising” products whilst increasing the scale of
production?
What is required to attract investment in advanced processing systems and technologies?
What opportunities exist for improving marketing, product differentiation and reputational
management?
Are there better ways to ensure effective chain of custody and QA systems?
How can QA, environmental credentials and stewardships systems be implemented that
impose low costs and provide high reputational advantages?
What is the nature of current economic clusters that generate value-add and how can these
be built on?
What competitive advantages are provided by small business diversity?
3.4.2 Discussion
There is a growing global fascination with foods and the places and practices of production and
preparation. The apparent strength of the relationships within Tasmania between the food and wine
sector, gourmet tourism and agricultural production demonstrate the need to take a wider look at
value creation across the primary, secondary and tertiary sectors of the economy. We propose a broad
systems view as the way of framing the opportunities and in emphasising the need to work at the
system scale, before targeting attention to specific components.
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Development of an Irrigation RD&E Program for the Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture
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This theme is aligned with the economics, geography and demographics of production landscapes and
regions, but should also look to actively working on the relationships with the economics, geography
and the changing demographics of cities and regions.
Understanding the complex regional geographies of food systems is called for as the basis for
understanding the changing cultural connections, and rethinking the nature of the business landscape.
It is curious that “agricultural science” is somehow seen as irrelevant within the “new food”
obsessions. This theme deals with many of the dynamic challenges of “re-integrating” the way we
think about food production and consumption as a deeply social and cultural activity.
Work under this theme is strongly aligned to a regional economic development agenda and if
successful would result in improved capacity to process and market the products of Tasmanian
irrigation industry.
3.5 Sustainable resource management
3.5.1 Emerging issues
This theme focuses on the RD&E that aims to deliver understanding and improved capacity to manage
natural resources/landscapes/regions on the large scale and in the long term to ensure the protection
of the public interest. As such, it is logical that key partners for this kind of work would be government
agencies, NRM boards and civil society groups. A priority for Tasmania is to learn from sustainability
challenges in other irrigation schemes in mainland Australia, and around the world.
Issues and RD&E questions included:
-
-
-
-
How do we sustain natural resources, biodiversity and the capacity of systems to deliver
valuable ecosystem services? Can farmers play lead roles as the stewards of the fresh water
systems they are utilising?
What kinds of information and knowledge systems will support and guide effective and
efficient policies, regulations and adaptive governance arrangements? What monitoring
regimes will support informed policy?
How will acceptable levels of environmental change be determined?
How will environmental risks – salinity, sodicity, erosion etc – be monitored and prevented
from impacting landscapes and production systems?
How could TIA support the emergence of local and regional systems of resource governance
that are equipped for adaptive management under a changing climate?
How can irrigators be supported to optimise their resource use decisions, in the shorter and
longer terms?
What are the options for local and regionalised governance of natural resources that will
support sustainable use and management? What are the best arrangements for linking
farmers to water scheme level governance?
What public-private partnership models share risks equitably?
How can water resource monitoring and compliance regimes be established that are fair, low
cost, elegant and effective?
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Development of an Irrigation RD&E Program for the Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture
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-
-
-
Are there useful and established models of environmental stewardship and certification that
could be meaningfully applied to water resources in Tasmania? Are some farmers willing to
trial water stewardship?
Can sensor and related technology be used to help prevent environmental degradation?
Can short and medium term climate and watershed yield predictions – streamflow forecasting
- be used to improve water resources planning and crop water use decisions?
How will future climates impact on natural resources use and management?
How can Tasmania support advances in non-stationary hydrology? What are the longer-term
implications for water resource availability and use of increasing temperatures and CO2? Will
catchments’ yields and crop water use change fundamentally?
Are there bio-geographic analogues of Tasmania?
What are the key issues for high latitude irrigation development?
3.5.2 Discussion
Under this theme a wider range of issues relating to integrated water resource management (IWRM)
and natural resource management (NRM), sustainability and environmental risk management were
identified.
There is a clear rationale for public investment in the RD&E that will assist in ensuring that Tasmania’s
landscapes and water resources are managed in the long-term interests of all Tasmanians. Work under
this theme has international relevance and links to the global IWRM and sustainability agendas.
Many stakeholders emphasised the need to learn from interstate and international experience about
monitoring and managing the considerable NRM risks associated with other irrigation developments,
and the associated large-scale landscape change and the intensification of agricultural systems. An
important research and development agenda is ensuring that Tasmania applies the learning from
these experiences so that wherever possible they are not repeated. Furthermore stakeholders
identified the need for effective monitoring, and better systems to ensure responses are timely – this
approach is often referred to as adaptive management.
Given the time scales, and relatively gradual rates of change involved, we recommend that TIA and
the Tasmanian Government design and develop an Adaptive Environmental Assessment and
Management (AEAM) program (Hollings 1978) which tracks key environmental risk factors (salinity,
sodicity, erosion, eutrophication etc) and their indictors with an aim to identify thresholds of probable
concern (du Toit J.T., Biggs H. C., & Rogers K. H.) which can be used as triggers for future responses
and management interventions (see also Stafford-Smith 2009 for a description of adaptive
management in sparsely populated landscapes). The program could involve the integration and use of
sentinel sites, remote sensing citizen science (eg water watch) and pilot or focal catchments.
There have been calls for greater investment in systematic monitoring at the landscape or river basin
scales (Likens et al 2009). Coupled with the frameworks provided by the AEAM approach some
stakeholders identified that Tasmania has significant opportunities for R&D into improved systems for
water resource governance (eg local and regional management, use of variable rules for dam water
sharing, scheduling cropping and extractions based on short and medium term climate predictions,
conjunctive use of extractive and environmental water flow releases etc) and in the design and testing
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Development of an Irrigation RD&E Program for the Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture
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of more elegant, low cost systems of monitoring resource condition and associated regulation,
compliance and auditing.
Any work on land and water governance models should be set within the context of evolving need for
climate change adaptation, and expectation regarding the support for community resilience and
regional economic development goals.
3.6 Innovation and entrepreneurship
3.6.1 Emerging issues
Human capacity, education and training (in the widest sense) and leadership were frequently
identified as the key to future flexibility and resourcefulness. The need to equip a new generation of
leaders and business entrepreneurs was identified as critical to future success. In addition bringing or
training skilled staff capable of dealing with the range of expert roles was also identified as critical to
the success of newer and larger enterprises.
Overcoming critical skills shortages was frequently identified as a priority. Skills identified ranged from
technical farm management skills through to wider entrepreneurship skills.
-
What is required to ensure sufficient skills and capacity for industry growth?
How do we build leadership and entrepreneurship skills?
What are the most effective ways to train and motivate the next generation of business
leaders?
What stimulates drive and motivation for success?
How can businesses become better information seekers?
How can Tasmania attract and retain skilled people, capital and expertise?
A wider set of issues reflected concerns about the nature of business innovation systems:
-
-
How do we build capacity for innovation in food systems?
Do traditional business models constrain business development? And if so what are the
innovative business models that would further unleash business potential in the agri-food
sector?
Are there better business models that stimulate economic diversification?
What systems and models of industry cooperation and learning promote wider adoption of
best management practices?
What are the features of the “innovation and adoption systems” that enable the successful
juggling of expertise, investment, specialisation and complexity?
What models of financing and investment facilitation are required? How can these fairly
allocate risks and rewards?
Further, there is a set of issues focused on industry development and diversification which need to
address issues of specific geographic regionalisation – and specific industry challenges such as the
coordination between growers and processors when scaling up existing industries or exploring new
industry development:
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Development of an Irrigation RD&E Program for the Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture
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-
-
-
-
RD&E needs to be focused on key questions that address the main opportunities and
constraints to regional development - focus on what drives or constrains competiveness?
How can the critical investments along value chains - from growers, through processors to
exporters - be facilitated?
How can RD&E focus on critical pathways to markets, for example how can the key crop
opportunities from reliable and abundant water be identified, and what stops farmers and
processors from taking up new opportunities?
Given the critical roles that processors play in export competiveness – because processors
induce demand from growers if they are globally competitive – what is required to or sustain
existing attract new processors?
Can RD&E be focused on improving information and coordination and reducing risk to private
sector investors through developing up and testing new crops?
What is needed to effectively overcome the challenges of coordination and agglomeration of
investment (as outlined in the West report)? Are the roles of government as investment
facilitator clear?
Are further studies needed that integrate the analysis of land and water capability, crop
opportunity assessments with assessments of agronomic potential and social and physical
infrastructure eg skills, transport, logistics, etc?
Further issues emerged for the development of agri-food innovation systems:
-
-
Structure the innovation system so as to generate and sustain innovation through focusing on
addressing questions like:
o What are the future opportunities?
o How do we get investment in them?
Align future R&D budgets to future opportunities
Actively support innovation models that are context specific and “nuanced” to the new
geography of regions and industries - new models, new innovation systems, systems designed
to address the big issues for developing new productive geographies supporting new
industries.
3.6.2 Discussion
Another key challenge identified was that business and the community face a sense of escalating and
compounding rates of change. Vague aspirations of “resilience” and “adaptive capacity” need to be
made more tangible. Communities and industries need to be equipped with ways of scanning,
interpreting and adapting to different change trajectories (futures) and ways of gauging the scale and
interactions of change factors including the interacting impacts of climate change, landuse change,
changing market demands and new technologies (ITC, sensors, bioenergy, advanced manufacturing).
Given this complexity and the nature of the cross sectoral interactions it is no longer useful to isolate
agriculture within the definition of a primary industry when so much of the potential value-add comes
from its business and cultural linkages with the secondary and tertiary industry sectors.
While these linkages are frequently defined as operating within supply chains or value chains, it useful
to take a wider view to examining the social, cultural and ethical aspects of food supply and production
landscape systems.
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Development of an Irrigation RD&E Program for the Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture
Report on preliminary consultations
4 Concluding comments
The questions outlined under each of the themes above are not separate and isolated RD&E agendas
but part of an integrated whole. There are many natural linkages between improving capacity for
managing enterprises, natural resources and sustaining regional communities. On farm, productivity
and profitability link to longer-term capacity for sustainable natural resource use. The viability of
industries and their ability to innovate will support improved regional employment and sustain more
diverse regional economies. Diverse skills and employment opportunities help to generate ideas and
innovations some of which will help to sustain farms and farmers in the future.
Finally, throughout the consultation it was made apparent that the traditional agricultural research
and extension models have changed fundamentally, and that more complex models are evolving. This
is in part a result of various waves of public sector reform in Australia, including the changing roles of
the RDCs, but it is also a response to the compounding complexity identified above. These newer
mixed models of innovation involve networks of collaboration so that innovation inevitably spans
disciplines, industries, jurisdictions and ideological divides.
Discussion about innovation being either market pull or researcher push are being superseded by
other conceptualisations of the innovation systems, for example, fifth generation models favour
networks of innovation including the use of design, play and creativity as core concepts.
There is a vast literature on innovation theory but the challenge for this project is to look to how this
might be best applied in irrigation in Tasmania. Given this evolving context and changing roles for R&D
organisations there is scope for TIA to participate in RD&E on innovating the innovation system (see
Weaver et al 2000).
If TIA’s program of RD&E is to be an engine of innovation, it must balance its scientific, technical work
with an explicit focus on the human, policy, and social aspects of knowledge and adoption (Campbell
2006). Having explicit and testable models of the social context for learning and adoption and being
able to more clearly articulate its roles in the innovation system are no longer optional for
organisations working in agriculture.
Accelerated systems of innovation are needed to support transformations in economies whilst
meeting sustainability imperatives. This demands innovation in technology and policy, and innovation
in the way we innovate (Weaver et al. 2000), because science’s roles are ‘far more than developing
technical fixes or technological innovations ... science plays critical roles in articulating preferred
futures and in developing smart ways to create these futures’ (Alexandra & Campbell 2003).
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Development of an Irrigation RD&E Program for the Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture
Report on preliminary consultations
5 Literature cited
Alexandra J, Campbell A (2003) Plantations and sustainability science: the environmental and political
settings. Australian Forestry 66, 12–19.
Balandrin, M.F., Klocke J.A., Wurtele E.S., Bollinger H (1985) Natural Plant Chemicals: Sources of
Industrial and Medicinal Materials Science, Vol 228.
Campbell A (2006) ‘The Australian NRM Knowledge System.’ (Land & Water Australia: Canberra).
Likens GE, Walker KF, Davies PE, Brookes J, Olley J, Young WJ, Martin C, Thomas P, Lake S, Gawne B,
Davis J, Arthington AH, Thompson R, Oliver RL (2009) ‘Ecosystem science: toward a new paradigm for
managing Australia’s inland aquatic ecosystems.’ (CSIRO Publishing: Melbourne).
Holling CS (Ed.) (1978) ‘Adaptive environmental assessment and management.’ (John Wiley and Sons:
London).
RIRDC 2000 New Pharmaceutical, Nutraceutical and Industrial Product RIRDC Canberra.
du Toit, J.T., Biggs H.C., Rogers K.H., The Kruger Experience: Ecology And Management Of Savanna
Heterogeneity.
Stafford-Smith M, Walker B, Abel N, Chapin FS, III (2009) Drylands. In ‘Principles of ecosystem
stewardship—resilience-based natural resource management in a changing world’ (Eds FS Chapin, III,
GP Kofinas, C Folke) pp. 171–197 (Springer).
Weaver P, Jansen L, van Grootveld G, van Spiegel E, Vergragt P (2000) ‘Sustainable technology
development.’ (Greenleaf Publishing Limited: Sheffield, UK).
West, J. 2009. An Innovation Strategy for Tasmania - A New Vision for Economic Development,
Conceptual Overview and Options Outline. Australia Innovation Research Centre, University of
Tasmania.
West J., 2013 Obstacles to Progress Griffith REVIEW Edition 39: TASMANIA - The Tipping Point?
Griffith University.
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Development of an Irrigation RD&E Program for the Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture
Report on preliminary consultations
6 Appendices attached
Appendix 1:
Project summary handout
Appendix 2:
Consultation briefings
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Development of an Irrigation RD&E Program for the Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture
Report on preliminary consultations
6.1 Appendix 1: Project summary handout
Development of an Irrigation RD&E Program for the
Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture
Project Summary:
Irrigation is changing the face of Tasmanian agriculture and has considerable potential to increase the
profitability, sustainability and global competitiveness of Tasmani a’s agricultural industries.
Research, development and extension (RD&E) are vital to realising this potential. RD&E play critical roles in
catalysing innovation and efficiency, ensuring sustainability and optimising the social and economic
benefits of irrigation, whilst minimising social and environmental costs.
In 2013, the Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture (TIA) received seed funding from the Tasmanian
Government to assist in the development of a strategic program of irrigation RD&E to attract investment,
consolidate existing activities and identify and address emerging priorities. The irrigation program will be
targeted to Tasmanian industry needs, and by demonstrating cross-commodity collaboration, will have
national relevance. The development of the irrigation RD&E program also provides a unique opportunity
to build cross-sectoral collaboration and organisational linkages.
A consulting team has been engaged to facilitate the process of industry consultation, identifying current
and emerging RD&E priorities, and working with TIA to identify ways to address these needs and attract
additional funding. The project will be completed by June 2014.
Industry engagement is a critical part of this process.
The project will identify priorities for current and emerging irrigation RD&E by consulting with industry and
community stakeholders.
The consultation process will commence with a series of briefings to increase project awareness with a
broad range of stakeholders and collect initial feedback. These briefings will also assist in identifying a
smaller group of stakeholder representatives that will be invited to participate in a two-day workshop in
early April. The workshop will use scenarios as way to help identify how RD&E can ensure Tasmanian
irrigated agriculture is dynamic and robust under a range of futures. The outcomes from this workshop will
be used by TIA to determine how these priorities can be addressed and how to attract additional funding.
For more information contact:
Mel Rae
Macquarie Franklin
0408 137 379 or [email protected]
Jason Alexandra
Alexandra & Associates
0407 943 916 or [email protected]
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Development of an Irrigation RD&E Program for the Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture
Report on preliminary consultations
6.2 Appendix 2: Consultation briefings
To date the following parties were consulted during the preliminary briefing sessions in March 2014:
-
Various consultants
Dairy Tas
Dairy Australia (DA)
Grains Research & Development Corporation (GRDC)
Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture (TIA)
University of Tasmania (UTAS) – various individuals
Tasmanian Government agencies
Tasmanian Agricultural Productivity Group (TAPG)
Tasmanian Farmers and Graziers Association (TFGA)
Tasmanian Irrigation (TI)
Poppy Industry Association
Sense T
Additional parties were invited to the foresighting workshop in April 2014.
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