Let’s talk about carbon and Aussie soil
There is a solution to climate change.
A new movement is sweeping rural Australia
Our soils are in trouble. They are declining in health. While conversations about environmental issues such as water resources, water quality, climate change and biodiversity are at the forefront, the declining quality of global productive land resources seem to have slipped under the radar.
The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) predicts there will not be enough food produced to feed an anticipated world population of 9.1 billion by 2050. It suggests if we are to survive, we need to increase food production by 70% from today’s levels.
But there is a problem. We actually don’t have another 30 years!
Most assessments of food insecurity are based on mass and weight, and not nutritional value. Weight is easy to measure but we need to recognise foods of identical weight can have extreme variations in nutritional value.
The decline in soil heath means the nutritional density of foods is also declining. If this is taken into account, the predicted 2050 crisis will occur much earlier – as soon as 2027 in the opinion of some researchers.
These researchers estimate there will be a global 214 trillion calorie deficit before the end of this decade. To put this into perspective, this value equates to the calories provided by 379 billion Big Mac hamburgers—more than McDonald’s has produced in its entire existence.
There are solutions!
The most critical tools for success in the global Agri-industry—data and knowledge—are becoming more available and cheaper by the day. We can now measure our agricultural system performance at all levels, use this information to choose better farming practice and measure improvements on a continuing basis.
THE PARAGON FOCUS
Paragon has a simple message.
“If we’re to build a sustainable future, we need to look to the dirt beneath our feet”.
A primary focus of Paragon is on supporting farmers to improve soil health. Soil health has a strong influence on the growth and nutrient value all types of farm produce, and directly impacts the soil’s ability to:
Store and filter water
Store and cycle nutrients
Act as a carbon store
Host biodiversity
Store our geological and paleontological heritage.
There is ample opportunity to start to make improvements. Soil health in Australia has been adversely impacted by continuing poor legacy farming practices.
The usual response to nutrient removal or loss is to apply an ever-increasing amount of fertiliser. Chemical fertiliser does increase the plant growth and vigour which, in theory, helps to address the world’s food security issues. However, plants grown in this way do not develop good plant characters such as good root systems shoot system and other positive nutritional characteristics. Of even greater importance is that chemically produced plants are leading to an accumulation of toxic chemicals in the population with resulting measurable increases in health issues – and social costs.
Paprika Capital is a strong supporter of Carbon8 and its passionate and dedicated team of supporters.
Paprika Capital works closely with the Paragon Agricultural Group, headed by Mike McCosker, and the Carbon8 movement.
