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Research paper thumbnail of Economic implications of alternative mill mud management options in the Australian sugar industry

Agricultural Economics, 2007

Sugar mills produce a range of by-products during the process of sugar extraction. Mill mud is on... more Sugar mills produce a range of by-products during the process of sugar extraction. Mill mud is one of the by-products produced in significant volume. The practice of spreading mill mud over nearby cane fields has been the primary means of disposing of mill mud for many years. The continued application of mill mud at high rates, without appropriate recognition of its nutrient content, the soil condition, crop nutrient requirements, slope and proximity of application sites to environmentally sensitive areas has raised a number of concerns in recent years, including over-fertilization, heavy metal contamination, leaching, and offsite impacts from drainage to waterways. This study develops a regional mathematical programming model to determine optimal rates of mill mud application for various soil types and distances from the mill in Mackay region in central Queensland.

Research paper thumbnail of Response and resilience of Asian agrifood systems to COVID-19: An assessment across twenty-five countries and four regional farming and food systems

Agricultural Systems, 2021

This regional synthesis addresses a major gap in knowledge about the effects of COVID-19 on agric... more This regional synthesis addresses a major gap in knowledge about the effects of COVID-19 on agriculture and food across Asia • Key informants from 20 Asian countries assessed early direct and indirect effects on each of four major regional farming and food systems • The analysis showed Asian farming and food systems were moderately resilient to the pandemic, especially the hill mixed system • System resilience, food and labour markets, and farm and food chain economic benefits are key priorities for recovery policies and programmes • This study highlights COVID-19 effects and informs recovery policies and precautionary strategies against future pandemics in Asia and globally

Research paper thumbnail of A multi-period positive mathematical programming approach for assessing economic impact of drought in the Murray–Darling Basin, Australia

Economic Modelling, 2014

In the last decade, the Murray-Darling Basin (MDB), Australia faced a severe drought which affect... more In the last decade, the Murray-Darling Basin (MDB), Australia faced a severe drought which affected its agriculture production. Sustainable diversion limits as proposed in the Australian Government's basin plan together with climate change is expected to impact on future agriculture production and development in the MDB. We developed a biophysical-economic mathematical model calibrated against the observed multi-period land use data utilising the positive mathematical programming (PMP) approach to evaluate the impacts on agricultural production activities of a range of climate events and policy options. This is an extension of our previous work where the model was calibrated against a single year and focus was on the southern MDB only. The multi-period calibrated model has strong predictive capacity as it matches simulated irrigated area, water use and gross value of irrigated agricultural product (GVIAP) well with the observed irrigated land, water use and GVIAP for all the crops in all the regions of the MDB across the highly variable climatic conditions from 2005 to 2009. The approach will be useful in assessing economic impacts of climate change on irrigation, farmers' adaptation options and/or water policies including water markets and irrigation efficiency improvement.

Research paper thumbnail of Towards food security by 2050

Research paper thumbnail of Public policies for improving food and nutrition security at different scales

The challenge we face today is the achievement of zero hunger in the world by 2050. Enhancing foo... more The challenge we face today is the achievement of zero hunger in the world by 2050. Enhancing food security not only enhances health and productivity, it contributes significantly to social wellbeing, economic development and national and global stability. Such achievements will call for effective public policies to influence the areas of demand and access through markets and supply. In relation to demand; many policies can target consumer demand for food, including instruments which influence employment and incomes, food preferences and consumer knowledge, health services and food safety. Policies which influence consumer access to food depend on functional value chains, equitable market environments, infrastructure and stabilisation policies – and above all creating enabling environments for business investment and engagement through incentives and regulations. The third group of policies analysed are those that influence producer supply by assisting in enhancing food production, including through rural infrastructure development, agricultural research and development, resource management, farm inputs and produce pricing. In this paper we consider a range of diverse policy approaches targeted at demand, access and supply that directly affect food and nutrition security with a view to better understanding which are most effective at addressing zero hunger. We conclude that the effectiveness of food security policiesis determined by selecting the best bundle of policy instruments for the specific context and country and that tradeoffs between policy instruments should be well-understood, in order to achieve the right goals and avoid perverse outcomes.

Research paper thumbnail of Economic implications of alternative mill mud management options in the Australian sugar industry

Agricultural Economics, 2007

Sugar mills produce a range of by-products during the process of sugar extraction. Mill mud is on... more Sugar mills produce a range of by-products during the process of sugar extraction. Mill mud is one of the by-products produced in significant volume. The practice of spreading mill mud over nearby cane fields has been the primary means of disposing of mill mud for many years. The continued application of mill mud at high rates, without appropriate recognition of its nutrient content, the soil condition, crop nutrient requirements, slope and proximity of application sites to environmentally sensitive areas has raised a number of concerns in recent years, including over-fertilization, heavy metal contamination, leaching, and offsite impacts from drainage to waterways. This study develops a regional mathematical programming model to determine optimal rates of mill mud application for various soil types and distances from the mill in Mackay region in central Queensland.

Research paper thumbnail of Response and resilience of Asian agrifood systems to COVID-19: An assessment across twenty-five countries and four regional farming and food systems

Agricultural Systems, 2021

This regional synthesis addresses a major gap in knowledge about the effects of COVID-19 on agric... more This regional synthesis addresses a major gap in knowledge about the effects of COVID-19 on agriculture and food across Asia • Key informants from 20 Asian countries assessed early direct and indirect effects on each of four major regional farming and food systems • The analysis showed Asian farming and food systems were moderately resilient to the pandemic, especially the hill mixed system • System resilience, food and labour markets, and farm and food chain economic benefits are key priorities for recovery policies and programmes • This study highlights COVID-19 effects and informs recovery policies and precautionary strategies against future pandemics in Asia and globally

Research paper thumbnail of A multi-period positive mathematical programming approach for assessing economic impact of drought in the Murray–Darling Basin, Australia

Economic Modelling, 2014

In the last decade, the Murray-Darling Basin (MDB), Australia faced a severe drought which affect... more In the last decade, the Murray-Darling Basin (MDB), Australia faced a severe drought which affected its agriculture production. Sustainable diversion limits as proposed in the Australian Government's basin plan together with climate change is expected to impact on future agriculture production and development in the MDB. We developed a biophysical-economic mathematical model calibrated against the observed multi-period land use data utilising the positive mathematical programming (PMP) approach to evaluate the impacts on agricultural production activities of a range of climate events and policy options. This is an extension of our previous work where the model was calibrated against a single year and focus was on the southern MDB only. The multi-period calibrated model has strong predictive capacity as it matches simulated irrigated area, water use and gross value of irrigated agricultural product (GVIAP) well with the observed irrigated land, water use and GVIAP for all the crops in all the regions of the MDB across the highly variable climatic conditions from 2005 to 2009. The approach will be useful in assessing economic impacts of climate change on irrigation, farmers' adaptation options and/or water policies including water markets and irrigation efficiency improvement.

Research paper thumbnail of Towards food security by 2050

Research paper thumbnail of Public policies for improving food and nutrition security at different scales

The challenge we face today is the achievement of zero hunger in the world by 2050. Enhancing foo... more The challenge we face today is the achievement of zero hunger in the world by 2050. Enhancing food security not only enhances health and productivity, it contributes significantly to social wellbeing, economic development and national and global stability. Such achievements will call for effective public policies to influence the areas of demand and access through markets and supply. In relation to demand; many policies can target consumer demand for food, including instruments which influence employment and incomes, food preferences and consumer knowledge, health services and food safety. Policies which influence consumer access to food depend on functional value chains, equitable market environments, infrastructure and stabilisation policies – and above all creating enabling environments for business investment and engagement through incentives and regulations. The third group of policies analysed are those that influence producer supply by assisting in enhancing food production, including through rural infrastructure development, agricultural research and development, resource management, farm inputs and produce pricing. In this paper we consider a range of diverse policy approaches targeted at demand, access and supply that directly affect food and nutrition security with a view to better understanding which are most effective at addressing zero hunger. We conclude that the effectiveness of food security policiesis determined by selecting the best bundle of policy instruments for the specific context and country and that tradeoffs between policy instruments should be well-understood, in order to achieve the right goals and avoid perverse outcomes.