A guy by the name of Andy Chivers has been researching the commercial possibilities of a native rice which is much more drought tolerant than the exotic white rice currently grown in Australia.

www.publish.csiro.au/?act=view_file&file_id=EC135p8.pdf

Is it too much to hope that the Australian rice industry might be interested in this environmentally friendly alternative???

Many thanks for this info Andy; we have posted the article to the site as I am sure it will be of great interest to all. Please let us know of any other similar articles.

hi andy/gina
unfortunately--the csiro-- regards agriculture are very similar to "the water scientist"--in that very little practical sense results.

Mono-culture of any crop lessens quality--it also causes more salinity/soil depletion and/or weed infestation.

We could also add to mono-cultures woes--the apparently "beyond the CSIRO" common-sense enquiry--how do you enhance protein--if your water is re-cycled town sewerage, and cattle/cotton pesticide
riddled??

The answer is you cant-and so the whole GENETIC INDUSTRY with its falsified or theoretical-only "gains" has for the last 20 years
reigned over bright-ideas resulting in increased land degradation.



Such continued vision--now has--genetic cotton--just as one example--releasing a hepatitis B "live virus", not de-activated by dilution- into water courses, and down stream crops.

Anyway--if you still fancy rice-farming, the below may be interesting:

George Monbiot.
Published in the Guardian, UK 24th August 2000.

"Last week, Nature magazine reported the results of one of the biggest agricultural experiments ever conducted (2).

A team of Chinese scientists had tested the key principle of modern rice-growing - planting a single, high-tech variety across hundreds of hectares - against a much older technique: planting several breeds in one field.

They found, to the astonishment of the farmers who had been drilled for years in the benefits of "mono-culture", that reverting to the old method resulted in spectacular increases in yield.

Rice blast - a devastating fungus which normally requires repeated applications of poison to control - decreased by 94 per cent.

The farmers planting a mixture of strains were able to stop applying their poisons altogether, while producing 18 per cent more rice per acre than they were growing before."



All crops can benefit--from sensible systems.


keep up the good work.

Hi McP

If I did not think that one acre of irrigated rice was one too many for the Murray-Darling this would be great news: but, could this be of interest to farmers in the wetter North?

hi kate--as far as i know--the wetter north is plagued by too many
seedling-consuming connoiseurs.


I've read [though it may require an update] that the Murray-Darling produces very favourable rice--because a majority of the farming is done via Biodynamic principles.

ASIDE from the absurd price that such farmers believe they "should request"--we should DEMAND that such quality grains NOT BE exported--as the nutritional and health benefits cannot be created chemically or organically--despite the latters popularity/interest.

THERE'S a water quality issue resulting from synthetic chemicals that few seem aware...
synthetic fertilisers--ie especially super-phosphates-- ARE TRANSURANIC...

So regardless of how you farm/what your water allocation is--the nutritional and longterm health benefit is such that you'll probably find your stock eat far better than the fare--we allow manufacturers to turn our grains and produce into.
[the EU is alone in this--we're still beholding to the market]..

Water-wise--the murray darling could be made DROUGHT-PROOF by
Keyline dams.
[can provide info if unfamiliar]

CONSIDERATION IS:

presently irrigation practices might be up to 40-60% evaporation.

The answer is build DEEPER channels-and as per engineered dams
STORE the annual rainfall.

The beauty is that we dont need monstrous DAMS--if we locate them correctly--ie ALL THE CATCHMENT HIGH POINTS--then we just allow gravity to water everything underneath our high areas.

hope some sense in reply...