Agriculture

Agriculture
The problem
Since the introduction of modern agriculture, the quality of Australia’s soils has dropped
dramatically. Inappropriate agricultural practices and methods have led to ongoing soil loss, salinity
and soil structure collapse across the country, threatening the viability of many rural communities,
and endanger Australia’s future food security.
In many areas, irrigation water is dangerously over-allocated, frequently wasteful and used on

Nature’s own carbon capture and storage. Matthias Ripp, CC BY

October 5, 2015  -  French wine lovers have always taken their soil very seriously. But now the country’s government has introduced fresh reasons for the rest of the world to pay attention to their terroir.

Closing speech by Paula Gioia, the European Youth International Coordination Committee (ICC) member of La Via Campesina, at the International Institute of Social Studies (ISS) colloquium on Global governance/politics, climate justice & agrarian/social justice: linkages and challenges. 4-5 

February 2016, The Hague, Netherlands

Watch this video about the effects on agriculture of Site C Dam here.

Clay and Katy Peck are just the type of young farming family that B.C. Agriculture Minister Norm Letnick says his government wants to support to ensure “a reliable food source for years to come.”

The Pecks own a 65-hectare farm in the Agricultural Land Reserve overlooking the Peace River, and are preparing for organic certification of a fruit and vegetable business to serve the northern area around Fort St. John.

California Governor Jerry Brown declared a drought emergency on Friday, a move that will allow the parched state to seek federal aid as it grapples with what could turn out to be the driest year in recorded state history for many areas.

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"As we see other sectors, like agriculture, struggling, what water rights do oil companies have to engage in fracking? The case can be made to place a moratorium on fracking just in the interests of conserving water," said California Assembly member Mark Levine.

"Water is our most precious commodity, not oil," he said.

British Columbia’s “sacrosanct” Agricultural Land Commission will be effectively dismantled and the B.C. Oil and Gas Commission will assume new responsibilities for land use decisions if a proposal prepared for cabinet is adopted, according to confidential government documents. Information obtained by The Globe and Mail shows that B.C. Agriculture Minister Pat Pimm is preparing to ask cabinet to endorse a plan to “modernize” the ALC, an independent Crown agency, which has overseen and protected about four million hectares of farmland for 40 years.