A production assistant inspects a Cannabis plant in a state-owned agricultural farm in Rovigo, about 60 km (40 miles) from Venice, September 22, 2014.
A production assistant inspects a Cannabis plant in a state-owned agricultural farm in Rovigo, about 60 km (40 miles) from Venice, September 22, 2014. Reuters/Alessandro Bianchi

Agriculture seems to give significant relief to Australian at a time when economic slowdown has hit the globe adversely. Farming is a vital way of earning profits through export of agricultural products to various parts of the world, according to the latest statistic reports.

Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce referred to the latest Australian Bureau of Statistics reports and said the role of agriculture in the diminishing economy showed seven percent hike in the rural exports in 2014-15. “Rural goods contributed AU$43 billion in exports in 2014-15 at a time when the value of all goods and services decreased by 4 percent,” Joyce said.

The results displayed through the statistics are enough to prove that agriculture is one of the most useful sectors in encouraging international Australian markets in the sustaining economic challenges. Joyce expressed his gratitude on seeing the Labor ministers participate in conversations on Australian trade deficit, thereby maintaining its disagreement to China-Australia Free Trade Agreement, or ChAFTA.

Joyce was worried on the disagreement of Labor member Joel Andrew Fitzgibbon and Opposition Leader Penny Wong on ChAFTA, which is believed to hamper future export business and employment in Australia.

“China’s imports of agriculture, food and fisheries products grew by another US$3 billion [AU$4.3 billion] to almost US$119 billion [AU$170.5 billion] in 2014, and Australian jobs right throughout the entire food and fibre supply chains stand to benefit from the improved market access that ChAFTA delivers,” Minister Joyce said.

Joyce claimed the farmers in Australia are well aware of the significant benefits of agriculture after the FTAs with countries like Japan and Korea. In addition, ChAFTA will also generate huge profits in the farming sector, thereby making the agriculture sphere attractive.

According to the figures depicted by ABS, 41 percent increase has been seen in the value of beef and veal exports in 2014-15. Almost similar hike has been visible in live cattle business up to 47 percent.

The reports stated that the export earning from wheat, barley and canola were down in 2014-15 mainly due to the drought condition in eastern states and slow-moving global market scenario. The Coalition Government is focusing on improvement of market access to farmers and planning to sign trade agreements with China, Korea and Japan. The ministry is also planning to open seven livestock market to enable easy trade with China, Thailand, Iran, Lebanon, Bahrain, Cambodia and Egypt.

Overall, the ABS statistics provide a clear picture depicting importance of farming in encouraging Australian economy.

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