Mapping Melbourne for land capability: Assessing the agricultural capability of Melbourne’s peri-urban area. A preliminary evaluation.

In discussions about the long-term security of food systems in Australia, researchers, environmentalists, planners and other stakeholders have frequently raised concerns about the loss of some of Victoria’s most productive land due to urban expansion. The loss of highly productive areas suitable for horticulture (fruit and vegetable growing) has been of particular concern. Fruit and vegetables are critical to a healthy diet. Maintaining the production systems and supply chains that affect their availability and affordability is therefore important, particularly in light of growing stress factors such as climate change and rising resource costs. This study explores the extent to which fruit and vegetable production around Melbourne is at risk from changing stress factors. Potential advantages of maintaining fresh produce supplies close to the city include proximity to markets and reduced transport cost and the potential integration of economic development, health and sustainability outcomes. Currently, there are gaps in the availability of data needed to evaluate the potential loss of high quality agricultural land. The difficulty in accessing and interpreting relevant data is an issue identified by the researchers in undertaking this study. Because information on land agricultural capability is not easily available, to date, there has not been a single region-wide assessment to identify and compare which lands have the greatest agricultural potential. While data exists for some local areas, existing assessments of soil and landform region do not have contiguous coverage, nor are they easily comparable. Not only have assessment and classification methods changed a number of times, meaning the same areas are sometimes classified in different ways, some studies were conducted for engineering purposes and not with the intention of assessing agricultural potential. This study goes some of the way towards addressing the gaps in the knowledge, and will shed some light on where future efforts should be directed