Reducing oil dependency in staple food production
Aaron Edmonds, Australia Nuts
Ironically it is a native plant that has not been exposed to modern man’s short sighted breeding efforts that offers Australian grain farmers the ability to greatly reduce energy dependency in food production. Australian sandalwood (Santalum spicatum) is a unique native tree crop highly adapted to Australia’s harsh conditions. The tree produces nuts that are high in oil (60%) and protein (18%) with the kernel oil being largely monounsaturated (55%) - the healthiest of oils. It requires no nitrogen fertilizer inputs as it is hemi-parasitic and hosts on the root systems of native legumes such as Acacia’s sourcing nitrogen needs that are biologically fixed. The energy saving from removing the need for artifical nitrogen fertilizer with the traditional crop of wheat is around 150L/hectare alone. The sandalwood nut will be an important oilseed crop on the broadacre farm of Aaron Edmonds.
Calingiri, Western Australia, Australia
I will be planting another 40 hectares to sandalwood this year (2007) to bring the total area under cultivation up to 120 hectares. This will translate to an automatic annual equivalent oil saving of 150L/ha x 120 hecatares just in nitrogen fertilizer reduction on the whole farm. A total of 18,000 litres (~130 barrels) of oil, or more correctly, the equivalent vloume of natural gas. I have also taken over Presidency of the Australian Sandalwood Network through which I am seeking to encourage farmers across Australia to adopt this energy efficient staple food producing system. The industry is actively seeking to partner with the World Wide Fund for Nature here in Australia to further our growth potential through increased exposure and profile.
The industry itself grew to a total of 6000 hectares last year. That is an annual saving of natural gas of the energy equivalent of nearly a million litres of oil in Western Australia just in fertilizer savings.