PRIMARY PRODUCTION IN AUSTRALIA

Press, Volume XCII, Issue 27736, 13 August 1955, Page 5

PRIMARY PRODUCTION IN AUSTRALIA

In the light of scientific knowledge already gained, and what is being Sined, Australia could, by 1980, double primary production compared with 1950. This was stated in a recent address by Sir lan Clunies Hoss, chairman of the Australian Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation. In 1930 it was known that Australia was so deficient in rain-’ fall that one-third of it was desert, another third was capable of sparse agricultural production only, and the remaining one-third, 900,000 square miles, had sufficient rainfall to make it potentially capable Of reasonable, intensive production. Since then a great change had taken place. There had been a rapid expansion of scientific effort in relation to the growth of knowledge of the reasons why so much of Australian soil was of low fertility. Understanding had come of how these deficiencies could be made good. There were vast tracts of country deficient in trace elements sueh as molybdenum, copper, and zinc, all essential for plant growth. The understanding of soil properties had made good these deficiencies and allowed the establishment of productive grasses and clovers. Water still remained the basic limiting factor in Australia, but there was reasonable expectation that in the near future methods would be available for substantially increasing rainfall by artificial means.