Australian rice growers are continually improving their water use efficiency
Water restrictions in urban Australia have nothing to do with rice farms
Rice is a valuable crop to Australia
Rice varieties grown in Australia are not the same as those grown in Asia
Water used on rice is not the same as drinking water
Rice farms promote biodiversity
Rice is not the agricultural product which uses the most water
If there’s no water, there’s no rice crop
Rice growers are committed to the environment
Water restrictions in urban Australia have nothing to do with rice farms
Water shortages are occurring in Australia because we are in the middle of the worst drought in over 100 years. Even the dams supplying Australian cities are drying up.
Agriculture, and rice growing more specifically, has not caused the drought or water restrictions in urban areas. People across Australia, especially farmers are all feeling the impacts of the drought.
Some believe that if Australia got rid of the rice industry, there would be plenty of water for cities to live free of water restrictions in summer.
However this proposed solution has one major flaw – the water rice growers use is located in valleys a long way from major cities and is not connected to most major urban areas, making the diversion of this water from rice growers to urban areas both impractical and uneconomical. Once you add the cost of treating, transporting and delivering this water to metropolitan Australia, the cost of this water for households becomes unaffordable.
Water is an essential resource for growing rice. Rice growers understand better than most the impact water shortages are having on Australian businesses and consumers. Like all agricultural industries dependent on water for their crops and animals to survive, rice growers know better than most the real value of water. Without it, Australian rice growers can’t plant a crop, make a living or continue to grow the rice which feeds 40 million people around the world everyday.
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