News Archive

Wheatbelt farmers can make their saline land productive again, if they're willing to think outside of the box.

This is what a group of speakers highlighted at the recent Wheatbelt Natural Resource Management Board Annual General Meeting.

Concepts of growing species of saltbush to create pasture revegetation with salt-tolerant plants to revitalise the soil and working to be more productive on the available arable land were raised.

Department of Agriculture and Food principal research scientist Dr Richard George reiterated traditional cropping, spraying and livestock pasture operations weren't viable on saline land.

Instead, he called for Wheatbelt farmers to own the salinity problem instead of looking for methods to fight or fix the problem.

Professor Keith Smettem from the University of WA said concepts such as carbon trading for revegetating areas needed to become a viable option.

"There is a great opportunity for carbon sequestration in these landscapes and the amount of land available for that would be a really good use for this land," he said.

"But until the price is set properly and we've got a proper market that is still in the future."

In the immediate future, the focus should be on getting better use out of arable land according to Prof Smettem.

He said the yield potential for the land in WA was well above what was being produced according to rainfall.

Retiring and revegetating saline affected land is something all farmers should consider he said, as realising the potential in their fertile land was where the economic benefits lay.

"In the context of utilising and making value of saline land and of thinking about saying we're retiring our land then we need to push production on the rest of the system," he said.

"If you look at the need for food across the world in the future all farmers will need to lift their yields."

by Rachel Andrews

Media references

Professor Keith Smettem (Civil, Environmental and Mining Engineering) (+61 8) 6488 1692
David Stacey (UWA Media Manager)  (+61 8) 6488 3229 / (+61 4) 32 637 716