Adaptation, mitigation and the responsible management of agricultural systems - a 'small island' perspective

Presented by Professor Holger Meinke, Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture

Although Australia is among the driest continents, continued warming in coming decades will manifest in more variable rainfall and increased extreme events such as high intensity rainfall and flooding.

This is already having massive impacts on agriculture. In north east Tasmania in the first quarter of 2011, three days of extreme rainfall events destroyed one quarter of the vegetable crops, one fifth of potato crops, split wine grapes and spread disease.

In this seminar, Professor Meinke outlines a joint project with the Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture to improve early warning systems and risk management of the increasing flood threat. This will enable farmers to adapt cropping systems, and produce methods that will have applications throughout Australia’s flood-prone farmland.