Call for farmers to adapt dryland practices

Age
Monday 7/9/2009 Page: 3

IF AUSTRALIA'S severe dry spell has an upside, it is the number of engineering companies that have emerged with better ways to help people manage water. Black & Veatch, a big US group with expertise in urban water systems, set up in Australia this year. Water engineering companies are also active outside the main cities. Regional communities, particularly those in the Murray-Darling Basin, are directly in the line of fire. "The farmer is getting hammered," said Peter Fagan, who has a solution: "Farmers will have to change to dryland practices and diversify their income."

Mr Fagan is leader of sustainability in the Asia Pacific for MWH, a company based in Denver, Colorado, that has 450-500 employees in Australia - a substantial chunk of its 7000 staff in 35 countries. MWH brings together program managers, business consultants, engineers, geologists, operators, scientists, technologists and regulatory experts. In the Murray-Darling, MWH sees the future in various aspects of forestry, using native species, mainly different forms of Mallee eucalypt, for carbon negative biomass, and even carbon sinks.

Mr Fagan's vision is to plant native vegetation - the Mallee eucalypt - in wind rows that still allow traditional farming, and eventually create a chain of 50 smaller biomass power stations that could be easily integrated into the electricity grid. Farmers could also look at other product streams, such as Eucalyptus oil, from the trees. "You can take the oil out and still use the wood for biomass," he said.

Mr Fagan, who worked on the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area with the late Dick Pratt, said Australia was a net importer of eucalypt oil, with cheap, poor quality oil being imported from China. Niche markets with a better grade oil were possible, such as pharmaceutical grade Eucalyptus oil. Eucalyptus oil was also used as an industrial solvent for ethanol-based fuels. Mr Fagan said to produce Eucalyptus oil on its own in the face of cheap, price competition was not feasible. "You'll get done," he said. But combined with energy production, and even agrichar when it was burnt, it could create five or six income streams. "This changes the economics of the industry.

You can select the Mallee species for oil or biomass or a combination of both." Mr Fagan said the idea was not to plant large blocks of trees, which could have an impact on water run-off. Trees created windbreaks and shade, and helped the soil retain moisture. But establishment costs were high, so there was a need for scale, he said.

John Williams, adjunct professor of agriculture and natural resources at Charles Sturt University, Albury, said there already was a lot of knowledge about the Malice concept based on projects in Western Australia. The malice trees coppiced very well, said Professor Williams, who is also a former chief of CSIRO Land and Water, and a founding member of the Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists. They could produce a variety of products ranging from oil to charcoal and solvents that could be used in paints. "They are also more sustainable front a water use perspective," he said.