SHOWCASING technology that will help farmers and growers create less greenhouse gas emissions, and produce great food in a changing climate, was the impetus behind a special workshop held in the Adelaide Hills last week.
The half-day agrifood tech conference, convened by Peter Wren-Hilton, was among a few being held across Australia in the lead up to the Pre-2035 Oceania Summit in Auckland, New Zealand, in October.
Mr Wren-Hilton, Agritech NZ, said the SA event was similar to how the summit would be run - designed to bring different key stakeholders, including industry, government, research, start-ups and investors, together to showcase science, research and technologies being developed to help address climate challenges in the Oceania region.
"There isn't a single silver bullet to fixing our climate change problem, it will require the work of many people," he said.
"More collaboration within the region will help accelerate the research necessary to address what is a long-term issue for mankind."
Among the guest speakers at the workshop at Hahndorf were sustainability advocate and environmental scientist Tim Jarvis from the Forktree Project on the Fleurieu Peninsula, where they are re-establishing native vegetation and native groundcover on a 53-hectare farm with a focus on carbon sequestration.
He also talked about his recent travels to Antarctica, where he witnessed first-hand how climate change and rising temperatures were affecting the region.
RELATED READING: Seaweed to feed project receives major funding
RELATED READING: Fertiliser concept becomes a stinking success
"Antarctica is an incredible litmus paper as to what we are doing to the planet - the western part of the Antarctic ice cap, where I was, contains seven metres of global sea level rise on its own," he said.
"It's not all going to melt tomorrow, but suffice to say we are very concerned."
Mr Jarvis said the opportunities to reduce human impact were "compelling".
Other presentations at the workshop included an update on CH4 Australia's seaweed for sustainable livestock feed project; SARDI's new Go Fish project, which aims to make high value products, such as fertiliser and proteins, out of food waste; solar technology, composting and regenerative ag projects at AAM poultry farms across SA; and the progress of local Plant Protein and Hydrogen hubs.
Mr Wren-Hilton hoped some of these great SA-based initiatives would go on to be showcased at the summit in Auckland later this year.
