Australia's growers could reap higher returns thanks to rising demand in Asia for fresh produce, researchers claim.
The University of Queensland's Global Change Institute has predicted that demand from Asia's growing middle class could push up the price of fruit, vegetables, cereals and meat in Australia by 45 per cent over the next decade, ABC Rural reports.
'The extraordinary growth in income and the creation of a huge middle class in Asia and the capacity to purchase high quality food is growing at an extraordinary rate,' the institute's Professor Michael D'Occhio told the publication. 'Our farmers are set to potentially benefit from this. There's no doubt there is global demand for Australia's good food.'
But the forecast price hike has sparked fears that fewer Australians will be able to consistently afford fresh fruits and vegetables.
The Global Change Institute's Professor Geoffrey Lawrence told the Herald Sun that the impact would be felt in Australia's retail aisles.
'It is inevitable that some of this will flow through to the supermarket,' he said.
The predicted farm price rises come as more than A$5bn in food is thrown out each year by Australian households, the Herald Sun said.
Professor D'Occhio said Australia produced enough food to feed 80m people, but up to 20-40 per cent was left to rot on farms, lost through spoilage or thrown out.
'We totally lack respect for food... it's not in our psyche, it's not introduced into the thinking of children at primary school or high school just how valuable a resource food is,' he said.
