How does cotton affect societies in other countries?

The Cotton Project in Japan

We have been looking at important places in Japan. One of these places is the Tohoku area, which was hurt greatly by the 2011 tsunami. We decided to compare our situation with those in Japan by looking at the Tohoku Cotton project.

What is the Tohoku cotton project?

- It is a new sustainable system that does not overburdening system.

- To encourage farmers to grow cotton on the tsunami-stricken fields no longer suitable for growing rice

- To create a new industry using TOHKU COTTON with fashion and apparel companies to generate stable employment in Tohoku

- And to effectively channel good will of individuals to support the disaster-stricken area through choices made to benefit them as well in their daily live.

Tohoku Cotton Project video 2012

2.     

   What activities are they doing to help?

They are changing their minds and started to begin making new cotton farms and they restored about 70% of their farms back.

Written by Zeek, Jonaiah, William

Natural Resource Management

What is natural resource management?

The Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities and the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry share responsibility for delivery of the Australian Government's environment and sustainable agriculture programs, which are broadly referred to as natural resource management (NRM).

Managing our or local catchment area

To be able to manage the Little Bay Community school area we would need too:

1. Manage our water resources properly
2. Manage our landscaping
3. Plant plants every week
4.     Fix soil produce
5. Work together as one community
6. Co-operate
7.  Land management
8. Water management
9. Soil management
10. Plant management

Written by William K 

Australian Agricultural Exports

The Importance of Agriculture Exports to Australia

Agriculture is an important part of the Australian economy. Some important areas in exports are agriculture, fisheries, forestry, and rubber. You can see this in the table below. 

Australia's top 10 agricultural exports (by value) – 2011-12 financial year
Major agriculture export products	FY2012 A$m	Share of Rank	Total
Total Agriculture	36,693		100.0%
Wheat	6,350	1	17.3%
Beef	4,684	2	12.8%
Cotton	2,736	3	7.5%
Wool	2,689	4	7.3%
Wine	1,910	5	5.2%
Sugar	1,597	6	4.4%
Barley	1,523	7	4.2%
Lamb and mutton	1,493	8	4.1%
Rape and colza seeds	1,343	9	3.7%
Milk and cream	1,064	10	2.9%

Export growth is important because of its effect on internal trade and economic stability. Here are some of the countries we export to. 

Important organisations

There are a number of organisations who also provide assistance or funding to exporters, or those companies seeking help to start exporting.

National	Grants & Assistance Finder is a free service provided by www.business.gov.au. It allows businesses to search for grants and assistance that is available to them by state or territory, an extensive keyword search, and a question and answer section to narrow the search. It provides details on each listed program including which businesses may be eligible, closing dates for applications, and a direct link to more information on the administering agency's website. EFIC’s Export Finance Navigator helps find grants and assistance for exporters.
ACT	ACT Government - Business & Industry Development – Export Assistance
NSW	NSW Department of Trade & Investment – Assistance for exporters
Northern Territory	Chamber of Commerce NT – International Business Council Department of Chief Minister – Trade Support Scheme
Queensland	Trade & Investment Queensland – Export services and Domestic and International Network
South Australia	South Australian government’s Gateway to Business program
Victoria	Business Victoria – Funding and assistance
Western Australia	Department of State Development – International Trade & Investment WA Chamber of Commerce & Industry –  Export Assistance

Written by Riley and William 

Challenges for Farmers in Australia

Challenges for farmers

The task was to write a newspaper article to persuade community to support Aussie farmers. It is therefore, a persuasive text that uses facts and opinions based on those facts. 

Call out for Aussie farmers 

As Aussies, we should be proud of our land and resources. But how much do we really support farmers? Current challenges for Australian agriculture industry include climate, low soil fertility, weeds and pests, biological threats from illegal imports, droughts, water security, price volatility and currency fluctuations.

Climate change- climate change is the consequence of unchecked pollution. When carbon emissions caused by human activity enter the air they have dangerous effects on the environment, the economy, and our well-being. But just as humans cause it, we can halt its progress.

We need to support our Australian farmers so we can keep on going with the lives we are living. And have food and clothing for us. Without farmers, where would we get our food, clothes and everyday resources that we need to provide for our country? Our family would not be available to provide these things for us!  

Written by Rhysie Siteine Morg and Monicqa Moale