Oracle of Delphi
KC Hill
Paladin
Craig HillThrowing cash at farmers
October 17th 2006 12:45
Okay so my blogs have been discussing Australia more than travelling within Australia, but not to worry, I am still aiming to please, just in a slightly different way.
I heard a very interesting fact today on the radio regarding how much water it takes to grow certain crops. There was a discussion about whether it was worth persevering with farmers growing certain crops if there is little chance of the area where that crop is grown, receiving much water in the future via natural falling of rain. They quoted some ridiculous figure for how much water it took to produce a cotton t-shirt. I hesistate saying what it was because my memory of the figure isn't excellent, but I believe it was something like 4500 L of water for every cotton shirt produced.
So the question is, if there is no water in an area, why should we throw cash at farmers to produce a crop that needs heaps of water. Not all of these farmers draw from the Murray Darling, but the ones that do, to grow a crop that takes so much water to produce should not be propped up. Give them a fee to relocate or change what they grow or to get out of farming.
Personally, I don't think this is just a natural drought, we are getting to the stage of permanent drought. The globe is warming and we need to move with the times. The funny thing is, the party that represents the farmers aren't willing to throw money into solar power and other environmentally friendly (as in not nuclear) power. They still believe the rains are going to come. Surely the farmers should see the power of the sun, they have been sweltering in it every day for the last 5 years!
I heard a very interesting fact today on the radio regarding how much water it takes to grow certain crops. There was a discussion about whether it was worth persevering with farmers growing certain crops if there is little chance of the area where that crop is grown, receiving much water in the future via natural falling of rain. They quoted some ridiculous figure for how much water it took to produce a cotton t-shirt. I hesistate saying what it was because my memory of the figure isn't excellent, but I believe it was something like 4500 L of water for every cotton shirt produced.
So the question is, if there is no water in an area, why should we throw cash at farmers to produce a crop that needs heaps of water. Not all of these farmers draw from the Murray Darling, but the ones that do, to grow a crop that takes so much water to produce should not be propped up. Give them a fee to relocate or change what they grow or to get out of farming.
Personally, I don't think this is just a natural drought, we are getting to the stage of permanent drought. The globe is warming and we need to move with the times. The funny thing is, the party that represents the farmers aren't willing to throw money into solar power and other environmentally friendly (as in not nuclear) power. They still believe the rains are going to come. Surely the farmers should see the power of the sun, they have been sweltering in it every day for the last 5 years!
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Comment by somu
this comment is off topic, but the font color of the body is very light and hence makes it uncomfortable to read. I am not sure, how others feel as well. Something, I thought might share with you.