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Australia produces a wide variety of Crops and livestock, 80% of all agricultural production is Export ed. Australia is a vocal supporter of Fair Trade in agriculture and is a member of the Cairns Group . Supports/subsidisation to the Australian agricultural industries are very low, although relief is provided in 'exceptional circumstances' such as droughts. Challenges to the future of Australian agriculture include developing sustainable Water Management strategies for a Drought prone environment, combating dryland Salinity , and the decision to grow, or not to grow Genetically Modified Food s. Domestically, some commodities are facing increased competition from imports. HISTORY OF AGRICULTURE IN AUSTRALIA the Rams, Tom Roberts 1888-1890]] Indigenous Australians did not practice agriculture, they were Hunter-gatherer s. Following European settlement of the continent, the Wool industry was the first large scale agricultural enterprise in Australia’s history. Wool was of key importance to the Australian economy, so much so that the phrase ‘Australia rides on the sheep’s back’ is still a part of the Australian Vernacular . Wool production is less crucial today; the wool industry shrunk significantly in the 1990s due to low world prices and competition from Synthetic Fibre . In the 1860s Sugar was successfully grown in plantations in Queensland . A raw sugar mill was established at Ormiston , near Cleveland , Brisbane , by Captain Louis Hope . As the industry expanded throughout coastal Queensland and Northern New South Wales growth eventually became limited in the 1880s by high wages for farm labour. To overcome this problem, cheap “contract” labour was brought in from the South Pacific islands. Between 1863 and 1904, more than 60,000 Kanaka s were brought to Queensland to work on sugar plantations, some illegally through a process known as “blackbirding”. This involved Europeans luring islanders onto ships by pretending that they wanted to trade with them, instead they were Kidnap ped and shipped to Australia where they were forced to work in sugar cane plantations. Regulations were introduced in the late 1880s to control the import of Kanakas, and by 1908 many Kanakas had returned home. Bulk Handling was introduced to the industry in the 1950s, and 100% of cane was mechanically harvested by 1979. Australia is the worlds largest exporter of sugar, however due to falling world prices growers and restrictive international trade practices in the global sugar market grower incomes are predicted to fall. The Export of Beef and Mutton to the United Kingdom commenced with the advent of Refrigeration . Export markets drove the expansion of meat production, and the 1932 Ottawa agreements granted preferential access for Australia to British markets. When this agreement expired in the 1960s, market focus shifted to the United States , Japan , the USSR and the Middle East . Large scale broadacre cropping was promoted from 1901 when the Australian states formed the Federation Of Australia . Between 1901 and World War I the Wheat Belt doubled in size. At the onset of World War II that Australian Wheat Board (AWB) was established to stabilise prices and meet war time demand, and the AWB was allowed Monopoly control of the domestic market for 40 years. The security of a fixed price, soil improvement, Disease-resistant varieties and improved cultivation techniques led to further expansion of the wheat belt. Increased Mechanisation resulted in increased productivity, making wheat the dominant cereal crop produced in Australia. Domestic wheat marketing was deregulated in 1989 . Until the late 1950s , agricultural products accounted for more than 80% of the value of Australia's exports. Since then, that proportion has declined markedly as the Australian economy has become increasingly diverse. The quantity and value of production have expanded in the Mining , Manufacturing and, in recent years, the service industries. MAJOR AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS Australia produces a large variety of Primary Products for both export and domestic consumption. The forecasted top ten agricultural products by value for year 2006-07 with production figures from previous years. |
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