Office for Environmental Programs - Theses
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ItemAn assessment of farmers' perceptions of and adaption to climate change risk: a case of canola farmers in the Shepparton Region, Victoria, Australia( 2013)This research on the assessment of farmer's perceptions and adaption to climate change was conducted in the Shepparton district of Victoria, Australia. The main objective of this constructivist research is to examine canola farmer's perceptions of climate change, and their strategies to adapt to the risks that may be involved because of this. The study considers two specific objectives: to identify the canola famers' perceptions and adaptation to climate change risks and impacts; and to identify factors influencing their perceptions and adaptation to these risks. This qualitative inquiry used semi-structured interviews with key participants and phenomenological methodology. One face-to-face and five phone interviews were conducted with canola farmers of the Birchip Cropping Group (BCG). Data was thematically analyzed and manually coded. The study highlights divisions of canola farmers about the existence and cause of climate change, an understanding of the need for action and a high willingness to adapt, as well as large disparities in usage of climate change terminology. Factors such as experience and farm size were negatively correlated to farmer's perception and adaptation to climate change. It also shows that a decrease in moisture is the foremost driver in variations in canola crop production, availability of water resources was a factor in choices for adaptation, and changing to drought-resistant canola varieties and strategic sowing were considered as future and current adaptation measures respectively. Furthermore, some farmers have considered leaving the canola growing industry due to loss of moisture. The study recommends four basic measures to be undertaken. Firstly, there is a need for decision makers and scientist to design programs to break the terminology boundaries of climate change risk and weather variability, and remove the uncertainty among small farming group such as canola farmers through effective communication on climate change to eliminate the skepticism related to the idea of climate change risk. Secondly, there is a need to reshape the framework of climate change communication to flow down to local life of individual farmers such as daily life practices and traditional beliefs that define small group of farmers in Shepparton. Thirdly, Scientist and decision makers in Shepparton has to increase the means of how they could better communicate climate change matters to agriculture community such as small group of canola farmers. Lastly, more research both social and scientific on climate change and agriculture on areas of perception and better adaptation in canola cropping within Shepparton are needed to assist decision makers to come up with tangible solution to solve the problems of climate change in Shepparton rather than depending on literatures or related study in another location.
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ItemA cautious approach to GMO regulation( 2013)The constant human population and events such as climate change hinder the achievement of global food security and threaten the effectiveness of current agricultural practices. To address this issues the need for technological intervention is necessary. That is the case of GM technology, which is being highly implemented around the globe to increase crops' yields, enhance nutrimental value in foods and feed, increase crops resistance to extreme conditions and pesticides among other activities. Nevertheless, the implementation of GMOs involves risks such as toxicity, the creation of super-weeds and genetic contamination. GMOs can bring multiple benefits and represent one of the most promising strategies to achieve global food security. In order to take advantage of such benefits and avoid the risks that GMOs involve they should be managed with precaution. It is through proper regulation that this cautious approach can be achieved. Examples of current regulations are evidence of the lack of precaution and the consequences of it. Such regulations include the Law on the Production, Certification and Commerce of Seeds, the Law on Plant Health and the General Law of Ecological Equilibrium. This Mexican frameworks stand out for its almost non existent precaution regarding the management of GMOs. Consequences of such thoughtless regulations can be summarised in the Mexican maize tragedy. An event triggered by the signature of the NAFTA treaty in 1994 that lead to economic crisis headed by the genetic contamination of GM maize imported from the United States, the country had poor and deceiving precautionary regulations. On the other hand, examples of highly strict regulations are evidence of how inflexibility can hinder the elution of technology. Such regulations includes the Directive 2001/18/EC on the deliberate release of GMOs into the environment, the Regulation (EC) 258/97 on novel foods and food ingredients, the Regulation (EC) 1829/2003 on novel food and feed and the Regulation (EC) 1830/2003 on traceability and labelling of GMOs an GM products (Directive 2001/18/EC on the deliberate release of GMOs [2001]). These regulations lead the EU approach to a state of 'suspended animation' regarding the advances in GM technology. The description of a 'proper GMO regulation' provided in the present document was obtained by analysing and comparing both approaches. Proper legislation can be defined as uncertainty-wise regulatory frameworks that implements the precautionary principle and risk assessment measures in a coherent-safe directed way, implements a cautious but flexible rigour and is highly specific. In the same way, a proper regulatory framework should also be shaped by safety-relevant stake holders, those advocating for the prevalence of biological diversity, environmental health, sustainability and hunger alleviation rather that those advocating for personal interests and the enrichment of a few. GMOs and such technology should serve not lucrative purposes but those of sustainability and famine alleviation. Under a proper regulatory framework as the one described above is how a cautious approach to GMO legislation can allow the exploitation of the GM benefits in order to increase the effectiveness of agricultural practices and achieve global food security in the light of major challenges such as climate change, the continuous grow of the human population as well as the exhaustion of natural resources whilst avoiding the risks that GM technology involves
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ItemPerceptions affecting agricultural development in Vanuatu: a comparison of two rural communities( 2014)Interviews in two rural communities in Vanuatu, Siviri Village on the Island of Efate and Luli Village on the Island of Paama, sought to explore convergent and divergent attitudes surrounding agricultural practices, in order to better understand relationships between rural ni-Vanuatu and their nation's agricultural development agenda. Thematic analysis of the interviews revealed traits which were common between each location and other which were in contrast. Traits were then considered in the light of Vanuatu's national agricultural development strategies, and with respect to the literature of practice change, agricultural innovation, and cultural attributes at play in Vanuatu, including ideas of ni-Vanuatu kastom (indigenous culture). Communities were found to hold unique attitudes towards development, derived partly from their unique geographic and economic circumstances, and partly from localised social attitudes and uniquely evolved kastom. Mutual aspiration for greater participation in Vanuatu's agricultural economy has been undermined by poor strategic level imagining of innovation pathways at odds with community centric learning systems, ideas of risk and vulnerability, and powerful social functions associated attached to semi-subsistent gardening. This research identifies several areas for further investigation, and recommends that Vanuatu's agricultural sector reimagine the roles of rural ni-Vanuatu and revise their approach to innovation.
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ItemRelease patterns of controlled release fertilisers and nitrogen use efficiency( 2012)Synthetic nitrogen fertilisers have enabled increasing crop yields to match world population growth, but losses of fertiliser nitrogen to the environment have significant environmental impacts, including eutrophication of coastal marine environments an nitrous oxide emissions. One way of reducing these environmental impacts while maintaining or increasing yields is to increase nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) of crops. Increasing NUE means that more of the fertiliser nitrogen applied to crops is taken up by plants, and ultimately made incorporated into food, and less is lost to the environment. Controlled release fertilisers (CRF) can be used to increase NUE, because by releasing nitrogen into the soil in a controlled way, they have the potential to match the supply of nitrogen to plant demand for nitrogen throughout the growth period. In order to achieve this result, the release rate of the CRF must match the plant demand for nitrogen. If the release rate is too fast, excess nitrogen in the soil after application may be lost due to leaching, ammonia volatilisation or denitrification before it can be taken up by the crop and if nitrogen is released too slowly, it may remain in the soil after crops are harvested, and be lost to the environment. In this study, the release rates of three different CRFs and granular urea were tested in a 70 day laboratory incubation in two sandy soils, and one clay soil. The CRFs tested were Environmentally Smart Nitrogen (a polymer coated urea), XCU polymer coated sulphur coated urea, and Optiset, a lipid coated urea. The polymer coated urea (PCU) had the slowest release rate in all three soils. Lettuces were then grown in a glasshouse for 56 days with either PCU, a single application of urea before transplanting, a split application of urea, or control with no nitrogen fertiliser applied. The lettuces that received a single application of N had lower NUE and fresh weight than those that received a split application of urea or PCU. Less nitrogen was leached from the PCU treated lettuces. These results suggest that a single application of PCU may be used to produces lettuces with similar NUE and fresh weight to a split application of urea, but with less nitrogen lost due to leaching.
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ItemOrcharding the future: the influence of temperature on Australian pome fruit flowering( 2014)Flowering development of pome fruit trees is dependent on local environmental conditions. The main driver in the timing of pome fruit flowering is temperature. However, understanding of the effect of temperature at an individual bud scale, is limited. The main purpose of this research was to investigate the differences in green tip timing, one of the earliest stages of flowering development, between bud types and potential temperature drivers. Changes in climate conditions may influence flowering timing potentially leading to a rise in the variability of fruit maturation, increasing harvesting costs as more picks are required. In addition, greater variability can potentially affect cross-pollination as varieties that pollinate each other may have different flowering at different times, limiting pollination potential. Furthermore, a better understanding of the relationships between temperature and individual bud behaviour will assist in assessments of future impacts of climate change on timing of flowering. Data from three different types of buds from 'Cripps Pink' apple were collected for 2012 and 2013. The study sites, which represent different climatic conditions, were Applethorpe (QLD), Shepparton (VIC) and Manjimup (WA). Statistical tests were applied to the data sets to evaluate possible differences in green tip emergence between bud types, sites and years. The results showed that on average spur buds were the first to burst at all sites. These were closely followed by terminal buds and then axially buds. Comparing across locations buds in Shepparton and Applethorpe were first to burst in both years, and some days later those located in Manjimup. There were significant differences in the day-of-year when individual buds reached green tip between bud types, within and across sites. The length of the green tip phase also varied between buds, sites and years. There was a consistent relationship between date of green tip and winter temperature. Cooler sites, Shepparton and Applethorpe, had the earliest dates of green tip while Manjimup experienced warmer winter seasons and the latest dates of green tip. Likewise, the warmer winter season, 2013, experienced a delay in the day-of-year when buds reached the green tip phase in all locations compared with 2012. Similarly, the length of the green tip phases was longer for 2013 than 2012. The results from this study help to further elucidate the relationships between winter temperatures and green tip in 'Cripps Pink' apple. Understanding these relationships is essential for the identification of potential impacts that future climate change may have on apple production in Australia.