ICAEM2016

In partnership with

The 8th International Conference on Agribusiness Economics and Management The Apo View Hotel, Davao City, Philippines 26–28 October 2016

UP School of Management

CITATION De la Cruz, Jaye. 2016. “Public-Private Collaborations amidstan Emergency Plant Disease Outbreak: The Australian Experience with Panama Disease.” Paper presented at the 8th International Conference on Agribusiness Economics and Management, Davao City, Philippines, 26–28 October 2016.

OPEN ACCESS POLICY This material was presented during a conference organized by the Office of Research of the University of the Philippines Mindanao. In support of the open access initiative, the organizers provide unrestricted access to these materials to foment wider dissemination and exchange of ideas. Authors are encouraged to practice self-archiving of their presentations for public use in a noncommercial repository. Copyright of this uploaded material remains with its author. For more downloadable materials, visit http://ojs.upmin.edu.ph/index.php/supplements

PUBLIC PRIVATE COLLABORATIONS AMIDST AN

EMERGENCY PLANT DISEASE OUTBREAK: The Case of Australia 27 October 2016, Jaye de la Cruz

Flow of presentation

 Introduction ● Research Objectives ● Theoretical framework ● Methods

 Case Study ● Australian agricultural R&D and the levy system ● Panama disease outbreak and government and industry responses

● Perceptions of the different actors

 Key insights and reflections

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Research Objective To analyse the contours of public private collaborations in agricultural biosecurity services in the context of an emergency outbreak of plant disease, specifically Panama Disease.

Theoretical Framework

 Market-driven agriculture and state regulation  “User Pays” model of agricultural research  “Shared responsibility” model of biosecurity  Public goods?

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Methods

 Field work in Brisbane, Australia (July 2015)  Interviews  Document Analysis

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Australian Agricultural R&D and the Levy System 

The rise of the Rural Development Corporations (RDCs) – Horticulture Innovation Australia and the banana industry



Levies based on a percentage of production (e.g. for bananas, 1.7 AU$ cents for 1 kilo of bananas, or 22 AU$ cents for 13 kilos)

 

Biosecurity – Emergency Plant Pest Response Deed (EPPRD)

Peak Industry Body – Australian Banana Growers Corporation (ABGC)

● Receives levies from HIA

● Also collects voluntary levy of 3 AU$ cents for 13 kilos ● Marketing research + political functions

● Signatory to EPPRD 6

Panama Disease Outbreak (TR4)

 Discovered during a routine inspection in March 2015  DAFF Laboratory operations scaled up, 6 new positions opened. Accdg to principal pathologist, it was made ready for “surge capacity”

 Tully farm locked down – reimbursements to farm owner  But TR4 not covered by Emergency Plant Pest Response Deed

 ABGC: voluntary levies, education campaigns  Biosecurity Australia: confirmatory diagnosis, fencing, regulation

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Perceptions

Industry Body and Growers

Growers and Government

Industry Body and Government

Growers and Growers

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Perceptions

 Large support for the levy system. Farmers have a sense of “ownership”.

 Questions raised on the capacity of the user-pays model to address long-term exploratory research with no immediate benefit to banana growers.

 In biosecurity response, there is criticism of government

efforts as ‘slow, unresponsive, bureaucratic’, but growers still want more (and better) government intervention.

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Some reflections

 Production-based levies work when there is more

homogeneity among the growers (less differentiation)

 User pays model insufficient for long-term anticipatory governance

 Cash injections for state and federal governments were critical in arresting spread

 In an emergency outbreak, the importance the public good component of biosecurity is highlighted.

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Thank you.

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