THE National Farmers' Federation has called for tax incentives for businesses to start up in the bush, saying they would create "jobs, prosperity and growing communities".

"Genuine tax incentives and the commercial opportunities they drive are essential to major businesses setting up substantial and long-standing operations in regional areas," said NFF president David Crombie.

"It's an investment long overdue, but it's also a solution to Australia's unsustainable coastal, city-centric population headache."

Mr Crombie said 88 per cent of Australia's population was "crammed in" to 3 per cent of its land: "Unless we entice businesses and people to major regional cities ... come 2050 some 36 million people will choke our cities to a dysfunctional standstill."