Fed: Farmers told a weed could make as much money as wheat

AAP General News (Australia)
12-12-2001
Fed: Farmers told a weed could make as much money as wheat

By Shane Wright

CANBERRA, Dec 12 AAP - Forget fields of wheat - Australian farmers could soon be growing
paddocks of weeds for the food industry.

A new report has found farmers could be better off growing the vegetable gum plant
senna tora instead of other crops because of the increasing demand for the product.

Compiled for the Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation, the report
found Australian farmers could soon replace the vegetable gums produced from senna that
are used in foods.

At present, all the gums are imported from India.

The only problem standing between farmers making money from the crop is that senna
is a weed in its ideal growing climate in Australia.

In Queensland it covers around 600,000 ha of grazing and cropping land.

Report authors David Cunningham and Kerry Walsh found that by increasing the yield
of senna, farmers would make more money from the weed than they do from wheat.

With demand from the pet food industry set to increase, and growing interest in the
food industry, the authors said the scope was there for farmers to make a living from
the senna weed.

"It is likely that their use in foods will continue to increase and that new food uses
and products will be developed," they said in a statement.

The world market for vegetable gums used in food is more than $20 billion, with most
of those gums sourced from seaweed and starches.

A patent exists on the use of the gum taken from senna in pet food until September
2003, but the report said after that date Australian farmers would be able to make a living
from the weed.

The only obstacle is the plant's designation as a weed.

"One hurdle for the establishment of this plant as a commercial crop is that it would
require legislative change with respect to the weed status of these species," the authors
said.

AAP sw/daw/jnb h

KEYWORD: GUM

2001 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.