Australian Agriculture: A Sustainability Story*

Chisholm, Anthony

doi:10.1111/j.1467-8489.1992.tb00710.x

Cited by 26 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…Empirical research has found that global agricultural productivity measured by total factor productivity (TFP) has increased over the last 40 years (Chisholm, 1992). This is mostly due to better knowledge and information that has been used to improve inputs, livestock breeds, crop genetics, land management and general farming practices.…”

Section: Australian Agriculture Productivity Estimatesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Mullen (2002) noted that productivity on farms will remain an important item on the agenda for Australian farm management in the 21st century. It is also the case that broadacre agriculture has had a significant detrimental impact on the Australian environment (e.g., Chisholm, 1992) and as yet no attempts have been made to produce environmentally adjusted productivity estimates taking into account these negative externalities. Thus, this case study is considered appropriate for this research because of its strategic position in Australian economy as well as the significant environmental consequences that need to be accounted for when examining productivity changes.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

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Environmentally adjusted productivity measurement: An Australian case study

Nanere

Fraser

Quazi

et al. 2007

Journal of Environmental Management

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Section: Australian Agriculture Productivity Estimatesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Environmentally adjusted productivity measurement: An Australian case study

Nanere

Fraser

Quazi

et al. 2007

Journal of Environmental Management

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“…Estimates of productivity growth from a number of sources suggest that the annual rate of productivity growth in Australian agriculture over the four decades to 1989-90 was 24-2.5 per cent (Chisholm, 1992). The productivity growth rate achieved in Australian agriculture is substantially higher than that achieved in the rest of the Australian economy and in the agricultural sectors of other developed countries taken as a whole.…”

Section: Agriculturementioning

confidence: 99%

Land use choices in a changing world

Chisholm

1994

Land Degrad Dev

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The primary factors which are likely to mould future non-urban land use patterns in Australia are identified. Over the past three decades the rate of increase in land productivity in Australia has been higher than for any other OECD country. Land degradation does not appear to have seriously threatened agricultural output over the last 45 years. However, there is cause for concern that land degradation, attributable to past activities, may only now be exerting a significant impact on productivity in some regions. Many of the services provided by natural resources have been underpriced; consequently, there has been a bias in agricultural research towards technologies that enhance on-site productivity, but which impose excessive external social costs. Underpricing of native trees from state-owned and managed forests appears to have caused excessive exploitation of these forests and lowered the establishment of softwood and hardwood plantations. Many important land use and land cover issues remain unresolved in Australia's rangelands, including questions relating to the optimum grazing pressures, the role of fires in the suppression of unpalatable shrubs and appropriate management strategies for controlling numbers of large kangaroos and rabbits and protecting the natural habitat of threatened species of native animals. The riparian zone, which acts as a crucial buffer between rivers and their catchments, has been one of the most neglected environments in Australia, possibly because river banks, floodplains and wetlands do not fit neatly into the category of land or water. It is widely accepted that the aboriginal peoples must be involved in seeking to achieve the sustainable use of our natural resources. How to achieve the appropriate participation and involvement of aboriginal peoples is a problem that is yet to be fully resolved. In many respects, renewable natural resource systems in Austraiia are unique. Knowledge creation and application will be a most important resource for the future management of our agricultural forestry and natural resource systems. The solutions to many of the major renewable resource problems do not depend on technology alone. Institutional changes and incentive structures are required that recognize and take account of the pervasive and complex interrelationships between human reactions and responses in their production and consumption activities and the environment.

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“…The productivity loss and maintenance cost approaches are problematic as they ignore price and substitution effects. Chisholm (1992) also argues that there may be an optimal rate of soil erosion. Indeed, the private rate of soil erosion may differ from the socially optimal rate, as farmers will only be concerned about on-site costs.…”

Section: Soil Erosionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Natural resource accounting in theory and practice: A critical assessment

Harris

Fraser

2002

Aus J Agri & Res Econ

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In this paper an extensive review of the theoretical and applied literature on natural resource accounting (NRA) is provided. The review begins by explaining the economic theory that underpins NRA, contrasting welfare and sustainability as policy goals, and presenting various distinct conceptions of national income. The state of play regarding official revisions to the system of national accounts (SNA) with respect to natural resources and the environment is presented and controversial areas are highlighted. Finally, the economic literature on proposed revisions, and applied studies that have proceeded using these methods, is summarised and critiqued. We argue that much of the literature proceeds with weak conceptual foundations, and that typical case studies produce results that are ambiguous in interpretation. Moreover, we highlight fundamental tensions between economic theory and national accounting methodology, and conclude that one outcome of this has been the insufficient attention paid by economists to the revisions to the SNA; instead devoting time and effort to 'freelance' NRA case studies utilising sometimes ad hoc methods from the economic literature.

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Australian Agriculture: A Sustainability Story*

Cited by 26 publications

References 21 publications

Environmentally adjusted productivity measurement: An Australian case study

Environmentally adjusted productivity measurement: An Australian case study

Land use choices in a changing world

Natural resource accounting in theory and practice: A critical assessment

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