Edible native plants could be cultivated for food crops in the South West, research suggests

Edible Australian native plants in Bridgetown and Manjimup are among the species which new research has found could be cultivated for food crops. Curtin University’s Perth researchers explored the potential of native plants in agriculture and published the nationwide study in February this year. Co-author Nicholas George said the research explored new economic opportunities for farmers and First Nations communities. “We’ve got 1000s of edible native plants in Australia, and many of those we think could become crops,” he said. “If we look in the flora in the South West, like Manjimup and Bridgetown, other areas, there are local plants that we could be looking at, that could help diversify farming systems in these areas. Dr George is a senior lecturer in agriculture sciences at Curtin, and one of his key areas of research is the utilisation of Australian native plants in farming systems. Born in Albany and growing up in the hills outside of Perth, he studied at the University of Western Australia and completed a PhD 20 years ago, which involved him conducting research on native plants in Bridgetown. “I was working on one of the local wattle species — it’s found all through the South West. That’s one species people sometimes grow as a grain crop,” he said. Working overseas for a period, Dr George said he was focused on new and underutilised crops for the Australian landscape. He said there was potential for the production and sale of edible Australian plants, however, he said the industry was “tiny”. “The fact they are local plants means that they are adapted to our conditions, so we think that would make them suitable for incorporating into existing farming systems, to make them more sustainable,” Dr George said. “Because they’re adapted here, maybe they’ll need less irrigation, maybe they’ll need less fertiliser. “I don’t want to promise that, but it’s certainly something that is very suggestive. “If we look at existing farming systems, particularly under changing climates, they’re under a lot of stress, and that can have negative impacts on the natural environment, and areas of natural vegetation. “If we can make farming systems more sustainable, it has that benefit of helping us to preserve the broader natural environment. Dr George said while farming was an “inherently risky activity”, the agriculture sector was innovative. “Think about avocados, which are an important crop in the South West region — they’ve only been an important crop for a couple of decades, prior to that they were new,” he said. “Avocados are quite an unusual fruit that people didn’t eat widely 30 years ago. But now we do. People can happily embrace new things. “We have, in Western Australian flora, representatives of all the food people would be familiar with — we have fruits, grains, legumes, cereals. “Australia-wide, we’ve got native rice and native sorghum, citrus and yams. These are crops that are grown around the world, and we have relatives and cousins of those plants here. “We also have other plants in the area that we know were important food sources for First Nations peoples for tens of thousands of years that we could be looking at. A weeping grass, called microlaena stipoides, which has local populations in the South West, could be one such plant. “It is common around the Bridgetown-Manjimup region,” Dr George said. “Australian farmers already use it as a pasture, but the seed it produces is similar to rice.” With many Australian plants having cultural significance to Indigenous peoples, Dr George said new crops should be looked into with Indigenous collaboration. “There are opportunities for Indigenous-led businesses, and economic benefits that come from that, and cultural empowerment,” he said. “Any efforts to cultivate native food plants must include appropriate benefit-sharing opportunities and respect for the traditional uses and cultural significance of these plants.”