Water Changes for Far North Farmers
The Australian Government’s Cooperative Research Centre for Developing Northern Australia is working with a range of researchers and industry representatives on a pilot project using blockchain technology to trade water on the Atherton Tablelands.
The collaboration involves blockchain and digital technology experts Civic Ledger, the Queensland Department of Natural Resources, Mines and Energy, SunWater, the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, Blockchain Innovation Hub, Griffith University and FNQ Growers.
According to Investipedia blockchains are made up of digital pieces of information. Specifically, they have three parts:
Blocks store information about transactions like the date, time, and dollar amount of your most recent purchase.
Blocks store information about who is participating in transactions. Purchases are recorded without any identifying information using a unique “digital signature.”
Blocks store information that distinguishes them from other blocks. Each block stores a unique code that allows us to tell it apart from every other block.
Federal Leichhardt MP Warren Entsch said the pilot project would benefit Far North Queensland agriculture.
“This is great news for all growers on the Atherton Tablelands, who are sure to benefit from a more transparent and democratic approach to water trading and management,” Mr Entsch said.
“Civic Ledger’s Water Ledger platform is the world’s first blockchain-based platform to simplify the management and trading of water rights.
“The result is a more open, fair, and publicly verifiable system.
Joe Moro, Chairman of FNQ Growers, said he welcomes the initiative as he believes it will put the power back in the hands of local irrigators who will be better able to control their ability to trade temporary water allocations as required.
"I'm very excited at the opportunity this gives our growers and look forward to seeing results over the coming months.”
For further information about the program visit https://crcna.com.au/
