Jeda Palmer

The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation | CSIRO · Agriculture and Food

A progressive decline in soil fertility in taro (Colocasia esculenta L., Schott) production systems has contributed to reduced crop productivity and farm profitability, and is recognized to be a threat to soil nutrient and food security in Samoa. Evidence based on three years of field experimentation showed that appropriate nutrient budgeting is re...

Livestock are a critically important component of the food system, although the sector needs a profound transformation to ensure that it contributes to a rapid transition towards sustainable food systems. This chapter reviews and synthesises the evidence available on changes in demand for livestock products in the last few decades, and the multiple...

Background Slowing climate change is crucial to the future wellbeing of human societies and the greater environment. Current beef production systems in the USA are a major source of negative environmental impacts and raise various animal welfare concerns. Nevertheless, beef production provides a food source high in protein and many nutrients as wel...

Livestock are a critically important component of the food system, however, the sector needs a profound transformation to ensure that it contributes to a rapid transition towards sustainable food systems. This paper reviews and synthesizes the evidence available on changes in demand for livestock products in the last few decades, and the multiple s...

Food system innovations will be instrumental to achieving multiple Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). However, major innovation breakthroughs can trigger profound and disruptive changes, leading to simultaneous and interlinked reconfigurations of multiple parts of the global food system. The emergence of new technologies or social solutions, the...

Future technologies and systemic innovation are critical for the profound transformation the food system needs. These innovations range from food production, land use and emissions, all the way to improved diets and waste management. Here, we identify these technologies, assess their readiness and propose eight action points that could accelerate t...

The global food system is the single largest driver of global environmental change, contributing 24% of greenhouse gas emissions, consuming 70% of blue water, and being the primary cause behind the 60% loss of vertebrate biodiversity since the 1970s. In the next three decades we will need a 30-70% increase in food availability to meet the demand fo...

The increase in global consumption of animal source food (ASF) (by more than 40kg/person/year in the last 25 years) has driven livestock production systems in many countries towards intensification. This has significant consequences for land use. Identifying how best to navigate the trade-offs of using land for livestock production depends on under...

Executive summary Agricultural productivity and returns for a range of crops and forages are considered for the Darwin catchments, based on the climate and soils of the Assessment area. Agriculture in the Darwin catchments is currently dominated by a mixture of large-scale fruit tree plantations and smallholder farmers of Asian vegetables and mango...

Executive summary Agricultural productivity and returns for a range of crops and forage–beef options are considered for the Fitzroy catchment, based on the climate and soils of the Assessment area. Agriculture in the Fitzroy catchment is currently dominated by extensive beef production, although there are some areas of irrigated forage crops along...

Executive summary Agricultural productivity and returns for a range of crops and forage–beef options are considered for the Mitchell catchment, based on the climate and soils of the Assessment area. Agriculture in the Mitchell catchment is currently dominated by extensive beef production, although there are some areas of irrigated agriculture and h...

Sugarcane production relies on the application of large amounts of nitrogen (N) fertilizer. However, application of N in excess of crop needs can lead to loss of N to the environment, which can negatively impact ecosystems. This is of particular concern in Australia where the majority of sugarcane is grown within catchments that drain directly into...

Soil organic carbon (SOC) is an important and manageable property of soils that impacts on multiple ecosystem services through its effect on soil processes such as nitrogen (N) cycling and soil physical properties. There is considerable interest in increasing SOC concentration in agro-ecosystems worldwide. In some agro-ecosystems, increased SOC has...

Greenhouse gas abatement in the agricultural cropping industry can be achieved by employing management practices that sequester soil carbon (C) or minimise nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions from soils. However, C sequestration stimulates N2O emissions, making the net greenhouse-gas abatement potential of management practices difficult to predict. We st...