2 minute read
TIME TO GET INVOLED FOR YOUR INDUSTRY
When it was first launched more than a decade ago, the Smartcane BMP program had a very clear purpose - to help growers adopt industry best practice in a bid to protect water quality in local catchments while maintaining or increasing farm productivity and profits.
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Fast-forward 10 years, and while protecting water quality is still an objective of the industry-led program, Smartcane BMP has evolved to become so much more.
Today it is a central pillar of the industry's capacity to deliver on our potential, as a driving force for diversification and a selling point for international trade that seeks certified sustainable sugar.
Whether it's the industry's ambition to gain greater access into lucrative markets in the US, UK and Europe, or government's goal of turning Queensland into a "green energy superpower" with sugarcane as a feedstock, commercial partners, end-users and government agencies all want to be assured of one thing, that the cane we grow is produced sustainably.
Of course, we already know that we have a sustainable industry, with many farmers demonstrating their desire to adopt best practice. Indeed, for most farmers adapting farming practices is the only way to stay in business.
Whether we like it or not the reality is that it is not enough to know we are sustainable, to drive our industry forward we must be able to prove our sustainability credentials, and that's where Smartcane BMP comes in.
The evolution of role of BMP continues with research also showing that not only has the program helped protect water quality in our local catchments, the practices adopted to achieve this have also reduced the industry greenhouse gas emissions.
As a result, international sustainability benchmarks Bonsucro and VIVE have both recognised Smartcane BMP accredited farms as producing sustainable sugar.
With all this effort by growers it is clear that we want to gain market recognition. This is why CANEGROWERS and KPMG developed technology to track sustainable sugar from the farm to the end user. All the pieces of the puzzle, which have been developed and refined over a decade, are falling into place. None of it is possible without the effort form growers to adopt and be committed to the program. Continued adoption by growers will be required to make our industry a world leader in the production and export of sustainably produced sugar.
