Climate change impacts and adaption strategies for pasture-based industries: Australian perspective

In recent decades Australia has experienced warmer temperatures and, in southern Australia declining rainfall, and climate change projections indicate that these trends are likely to continue. In southern Australia, pasture growth patterns have changed with increased winter production but a contraction of the spring growing season and increased inter-annual variability of production. A range of options have been investigated to adapt farm businesses to the changing climate including feedbase, livestock management and diversification. The challenge for adaptation research is to better understand impacts and adaptation options for increases in extreme climate events, such as heatwaves, drought and intense rainfall events

Support for the ‘out-of-Southeast Asia’ hypothesis for the origin of Australian populations of Radopholus similis (Cobb, 1893) (Nematoda: Pratylenchidae)

Radopholus similis is one of the world’s ten most economically important plant-parasitic nematodes. It is especially a problem in banana cultivation, where the nematodes’ feeding reduces yields and causes toppling disease. It has been suggested that the genus Radopholus Thorne, 1949 might have an Australian origin, but the native range of R. similis (Cobb, 1893) is not well known. Here we undertake a phylogeographical study of samples of R. similis from banana plantations down the eastern seaboard of Australia, with additional samples from Costa Rica and accessions from GenBank, to examine the origin of pest populations of R. similis. The lack of genetic diversity of R. similis within Australia, and its sharing of a worldwide pest haplotype, suggest that populations of R. similis in Australia were introduced from a single source population, most likely from the Southeast Asian region. This might not be the case in Africa, where extensive genetic diversity has been found

NEXUS project: pathways for greenhouse gas mitigation and climate change adaptation of Australian livestock industries

Australian sheep and beef production systems face the dual challenges of reducing net greenhouse gas emissions and adapting to a warmer climate with changing rainfall patterns. The ‘Nexus project’ is exploring pathways for livestock production systems to meet these challenges using farm systems modelling approaches. The objective of this component of the project was to estimate the GHG emissions intensity (GHG EI) from sheep and beef farms. Seven case study farms in eastern Australia were investigated across a diverse range of agroecological zones from the high rainfall, cool-temperate climate in Tasmania through to the arid, tropical region of northern Queensland. The production systems were one sheep-only farm (Midlands, Tasmania), three beef-only farms (north-west Tasmania, central Queensland and northern Queensland) and three mixed sheep and beef farms (Gippsland Victoria, northern Victoria and central New South Wales). Data on current farm management and production was collected through interviews with farm managers and used to estimate GHG EI using the Australian National Greenhouse Gas Inventory Report methodology. For sheep production, emissions were partitioned between meat and wool using the protein allocation method. Results were expressed as tonnes carbon dioxide equivalents (CO2e) per tonne of production sold (liveweight for beef and sheep meat, and greasy wool). GHG EI of beef production ranged from 9.8-15 t CO2e/t liveweight sold, with the lowest value on the farm in north-west Tasmania and the highest value in the central Queensland. For sheep production, the GHG EI of meat production ranged from 5.3-8.7 t CO2e/t liveweight sold and wool production from 19.7-31.0 t CO2e/t greasy wool sold. In general sheep and beef production GHG EI’s were lower where the reproduction rates were higher. Further research will investigate options to reduce both total GHG and GHG EI using combinations of mitigation and sequestration opportunities on-farm

NEXUS project: pathways for greenhouse gas emissions mitigation and climate change adaptation of Australian Livestock Industries

Australian sheep and beef production systems face the dual challenges of reducing net greenhouse gas emissions and adapting to a warmer climate with changing rainfall patterns. The ‘Nexus project’ is exploring pathways for livestock production systems to meet these challenges using farm systems modelling approaches. The objective of this component of the project was to estimate the GHG emissions intensity (GHG EI) from sheep and beef farms. Seven case study farms in eastern Australia were investigated across a diverse range of agroecological zones from the high rainfall, cool-temperate climate in Tasmania through to the arid, tropical region of northern Queensland. The production systems were one sheep-only farm (Midlands, Tasmania), three beef-only farms (north-west Tasmania, central Queensland and northern Queensland) and three mixed sheep and beef farms (Gippsland Victoria, northern Victoria and central New South Wales). Data on current farm management and production was collected through interviews with farm managers and used to estimate GHG EI using the Australian National Greenhouse Gas Inventory Report methodology. For sheep production, emissions were partitioned between meat and wool using the protein allocation method. Results were expressed as tonnes carbon dioxide equivalents (CO2e) per tonne of production sold (liveweight for beef and sheep meat, and greasy wool). GHG EI of beef production ranged from 9.8-15 t CO2e/t liveweight sold, with the lowest value on the farm in north-west Tasmania and the highest value in the central Queensland. For sheep production, the GHG EI of meat production ranged from 5.3-8.7 t CO2e/t liveweight sold and wool production from 19.7-31.0 t CO2e/t greasy wool sold. In general sheep and beef production GHG EI’s were lower where the reproduction rates were higher. Further research will investigate options to reduce both total GHG and GHG EI using combinations of mitigation and sequestration opportunities on-farm

Climate Change and Peri-Urban Household Food Security—Lessons from West Taraka, Morobe Province, Papua New Guinea

Climate change has become a major concern towards the stability of global food production due to long and short-term climate related events. This paper will incorporate climate data to build on the existing data on the status of household food and nutrition security in one of Lae’s peri-urban settlement, West Taraka in Morobe Province, Papua New Guinea. Two data sets were collected: household dietary patterns and changes in food production, and socio-economic characteristics, using stratified purposive sampling for selected fifty-eight (58) households in June 2016 through household survey and informal interviews (mixed method). Results show no statistical relationships between socio-economic characteristics of the households and their Household Dietary Diversity Score and Food Consumption Score. However, a significant inverse relationship at 95% probability exists between the numbers of household members in school with the Household Food Consumption Score. This study also found a significant positive relationship at 99% level probability between household income and Food Consumption Score signaling that income was the main determinant of household food and nutritional security