If 2022's floods, fires, and droughts weren't warning enough, corporate agriculture is being sent a message – invest in protected cropping now or risk the future of food.
While costs and design were still a barrier, Australian scientists said if large companies did not start spending on new technology soon, the rising costs and risks from growing food outside would continue to threaten food security.
At the Future of Food Summit in Brisbane, climate scientist and plant physiologist David Tissue said the pressure on household grocery bills would only continue unless a significant shift happened. "It's like ignoring some health issue that you have. You could wait six months, a year, two years," the Western Sydney University professor said.
"It might be too late by the time you go to the doctor." He believed the answer was protected cropping, which involved sheltering the crop from nature using a cover. "If things are undercover, there can be some damage, but we can also recover much more quickly," he said.
While the systems, mostly developed in Europe, still needed to be adapted to the Australian experience, there had been progress.
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