Still room for growth in top end: farmers

FARMERS insist Australia's north is ripe for agricultural development and dams despite a new report rejecting any hope it might be the nation's new food bowl.

A federal government commissioned report, by the Northern Australia Land and Water Taskforce, has found little potential for expanded farming in northern parts of Queensland, the Northern Territory and Western Australia.

It says that while rainfall is high across northern Australia, it's generally limited to three months of the year and would be difficult to capture.

It also points to the damage high rainfall can do, stripping away top soil, leaving the ground infertile.

The report has been welcomed by environmental and indigenous groups but farmers and the federal opposition maintain there's room for growth in these often remote parts of the country.

Independent MP Bob Katter, whose electorate of Kennedy covers much of the area investigated by the taskforce, said the report meant Australia would become a net importer of food within 15 years.

"It has driven a stake through the heart of Australia," he said.

He said the taskforce was made up primarily of "ivory tower academics" and environmentalists rather than anyone with on-the-ground experience with northern farming communities or rivers.

"Here is a committee comprised of not a single person who knows anything about dams, not a single person who knows about delivering water onto the ground and irrigating and not a single person who knew anything about farming."

The National Farmers Federation said there was never any prospect of the north becoming "a food bowl for Asia" but the organisation still believes the area could be put to better use.

"There are opportunities for greater intensification of agriculture, there's opportunities for more integrated development in the livestock sector, there are opportunities for pastoralists and lease holders, and there are opportunities for indigenous communities," president David Crombie said.

Opposition spokesman for remote Australia Senator Ian Macdonald said there was potential for new water storage facilities and increased capacity at existing dams across the north, which receives about eight times the annual run-off of the Murray-Darling Basin.

"With the wealth (of) minerals, beef, other agricultural pursuits and new service industries to service the tropical world, Australia's future lies in the north," he said.

But Wilderness Society campaigner Glenn Walker said the report showed the future vision for the top end should be focused on sustainable development such as tourism rather than agriculture.

"There are not many places left like this on the planet so the science is strongly suggesting the natural competitive advantage in northern Australia protecting and promoting the river systems," he said.

He said Mr Katter's claims Australia would need to import more than half its food in the future were exaggerated but in any case farming in the north wasn't the answer.

"What this report is telling us is that if you try it in northern Australia it will be a complete disaster."

The document details 15 recommendations to develop northern Australia, ranging from increasing investment in climate, water, land and environment research to the harmonisation of pastoral lease conditions to allow for greater flexibility.

It also recommended the establishment of a Council of Northern Australia, chaired by the prime minister, to plan for the region's sustainable development and lead the way to achieving it.