References and Links Publications Colin Austin's Story

The future of food

We have developed a growing system which can cut water use by half and also sequesters significant quantities of carbon into the soil.

Organic material, is integrated into the sub surface soil by selected biological action to form a highly water absorbent sponge like material which provides continuous supply of moisture to the crop growing above.

The system is highly productive; uses much less water and captures significant amounts of atmospheric carbon. This is of global importance as climate change advances and we need to produce food with less and more erratic rainfall.

This system has been widely adopted in Australia by enthusiastic environmentally sensitive growers but now we need to move onto the next stage of gaining wide international adoption.

We are therefore looking for partners to set up joint venture operations nationally and internationally who can provide training for growers adopting the system and supply the biological initiators, and other supplies.

If soil carbon capture were adopted, as it inevitably must, under international carbon trading rules, this would be an extremely profitable operation for growers adopting the system.

As China is the largest and most rapidly growing emitter of atmospheric carbon we are particularly interested in finding a Chinese joint venture partner.

If you are a potential partner, (or know of such a potential partner), please contact me at email colin austin

Water for food

The wicking bed system could be described as a revolution in food production. Yet it looks so simple that it does not immediately look revolutionary. But the implications are potentially dramatic.

There are still divergence of opinion on global warming, but there is no dispute that the world is warming and that carbon in the atmosphere is increasing. The divergence is how significant the contribution of man made emission are to global warming.

The developed countries have historically been the major contributors to increased carbon levels. But in future the developing countries will be major contributors. China is already the largest emitter.

The strategy left to man is a combination of minimization and adaptation. Water for food production will be one of the critical with global warming. The importance of the wicking bed system is that it means food can be produced with reduced and erratic rainfall.

But it also captures carbon from the atmosphere and integrates this into the soil structure. The wicking bed system can be adopted by both developed and developing countries however it is particularly appropriate for developing countries giving them the opportunity to offset their carbon emissions.

In retrospect the surprising thing about wicking beds is that it took so long for me to come up with the idea. This is because is apparently contravenes one of the basic rules of traditional growing, that soils must be well drained and not waterlogged.

The truth is that in a wicking bed only part of the soil is saturated and then for only part of the time.

For over forty years I have conducted experiments trying to find better and more effective ways of using water to grow food. I have described these experimental precursors to wicking bed as a way of fully understanding the wicking bed technology and story. But you can go straight to wicking bed section here.

The philosophy or how we should manage soils and water

This has led to the development of a philosophy or set or principles on how we should manage our land and water.

This philosophy has become increasingly important with the concerns about climate change.

Many of these experiments were bizarre and were quickly aborted, but often gave a valuable learning experience, others while apparently being in conflict with conventional wisdom have proved remarkably successful.

My aim is to make these innovative technologies widely available to commercial growers, amateurs just wanting to grow a few vegetables, those involved in managing water and hopefully to our politicians who are ultimately responsible for our land and water.

Traditionally web sites are designed for the 2 minute grab. This web site contains a large number of articles, papers and letters which were written over a many years. Subjects covered include the highly successful wicking bed technology, irrigation scheduling, water harvesting sustenance food , etc.

These can be accessed directly by going directly to the the index of files.

However a 2 minute grab does not give an in depth understanding of this management philosophy developed over some 40 years. I have therefore decided to write the story underlying these experiments and the contemplation of the results.

I am a great believer in speculative research. I built up one of Australia leading exporters of technical software based on the principle of speculative research. This was done for money which also paid for my work on land and water management which I now do, not for profit, but because I believe it is fundamental for the future of our existence on this planet.

New chapters will be added over the coming months. I start with

Chapter 1 Soil regeneration

Tests carried out over 30 years ago showed that soil could be rapidly regenerated by controlling the moisture level in the soil to encourage the right type of micro-biological action.

Today this technology is important as it captures atmospheric carbon and so can offset climate change. However it does require water to maintain the soil moisture levels - in a dry continent like Australia this presents a major challenge. Subsequently technologies such as improved irrigation scheduling, local water harvesting, subsurface irrigation and the wicking bed were developed for the more effective use of water.

Chapter 2 irrigation scheduling

Improved irrigation scheduling is the easiest and cheapest way of making more effective use of water. Traditionally scheduling has been a hit and miss affair which was marginally improved by using crop factors and evaporation data. However this is an open loop system with no in build feed back so significant water is still wasted. Here we look as closed loop systems taking advantages of improved instrumentation for soil and plant moisture monitoring to control irrigation depth

Chapter 3 Subsurface and improved flood irrigation

Subsurface irrigation was initially seen as way of saving water lost by evaporation. A wide range of experiments however led to the conclusion that practical difficulties severely limit its application. The experimental focus was then switched to developing a computer simulation of flood irrigation to improve its efficiency.

Technically successful but with limited commercial uptake this was not regarded as a success but it did lead onto the highly successful wicking bed technology.

Chapter 4 Local water harvesting

Australia is often considered to be a dry continent, in fact it has reasonable rainfall. The problem is excessive evaporation so much of the rain is lost by evaporation before it can be used by plants or captured in our dams.

Here we look at how local water harvesting can capture water but minimizing this evaporation.

Chapter 5 Wicking beds

Wicking beds were initially developed as a way of managing an erratic rainfall. Experience showed then to be a highly productive growing system.

The wicking bed enables us to grow food with a lot less water, it can be used to harvest water otherwise lost and particularly it can actually capture carbon from the atmosphere.

The wicking worm bed is a highly productive growing system which not only produces more food from limited water, but also recycles waste organic material to provide plant nutrient and capture carbon.

The essence is to form an underground reservoir of water or pond contained by a waterproof container or liner below the surface. Water wicks by surface tension to feed the plants.

New wicking bed site www.easygrowvegetables.com

Chapter 6 climate change - capturing carbon in the soil

With the rapid growth of the developing countries, particularly coal burning countries like China and India we are not going to be able to reduce our carbon emission adequately to control global warming.

The only solution is to extract carbon from the atmosphere. Plant already extract 30 times more carbon than total and made emissions. The problem it that this carbon rapidly en-enters the atmosphere. This chapter shows how we can retain this carbon in the soil

See submission to Minister on Soil Carbon Capture

colin austin

31st march 2009