Northern Australia's vulnerable food supply chain could soon be strengthened through the use of new technologies aimed at repurposing by-products that would otherwise go to waste or offer minimal economic benefits to farmers.
The nation's north relies heavily on deliveries from southern states, and a freight train derailment in Katherine last week highlighted the vulnerability of Northern Australia's supply chain, which stretches across nearly 4,000 kilometres.
But a new project at the Northern Territory's Charles Darwin University (CDU) is looking to bolster food supply in the nation's north, through novel food processing technologies that turn low value products from the region's meat, seafood and vegetable industry into shelf-ready meals.
Products that could potentially be processed at the facility include ready-made meals like buffalo curries, snacks like dried mangoes, health products and pet food.
Researchers have also proposed a pilot facility to explore the technologies further.
CDU Northern Australia Food Technology Innovation (NAFTI) project manager Dr Warren Hunt said creating processing facilities in Darwin would give farmers more economic opportunities.
"We have a good deal of produce both in the red meat, in the horticulture and also seafood sectors that are either low grade, low value, or of no value," he said.
"So, there is the opportunity to produce value where it currently doesn't exist."
Dr Hunt also said the project would provide better food security for the region during natural disasters that could cut off main transport routes.
"It's also about resilience capability in the north to cope with worst-case situations and the tenuous nature of our supply of conduits of food into the north that has been demonstrated recently with the train derailment," he said.
University of Tasmania food scientist Roger Stanley is also collaborating on the project.
He said thermal sterilisation technology could be used to allow food to be transported and stored without refrigeration.
"[The new technology] is a two-step process, a long slow-cooking process followed by rapid sterilisation, and then you've got a product which is ready to eat and it's restaurant quality," he said.
"The old technology was to make canned corned beef, high salt, high fat nitrite [which is] not what you want, so this new technology can add the value and replace that product.
"The packaging technology stops oxygen getting in to make the product rancid or take away the flavour profile, and it stops the water going out which would dehydrate it."
Mr Stanley said creating meals this way could also help strengthen food supply in remote communities, or during natural disasters and prolonged power outages.
"Because [northern Australia] is isolated and subjected to weather events, train derailments that interrupt your food supply, you want a product which can be stored and you can have in the back of the cupboard," he said.
"You can also have a centralised food supply for larger operations that you can draw on independent of whether the power supply goes down, so you don't have to run a generator."
NT Farmers Association chief executive Paul Burke said the project could give farmers the opportunity to maximise profits while minimising waste.
"Food waste is a really big issue. We put a lot of input into food to grow them," he said.
"If they're not actually making it onto the shelf, then the cost to growers is quite high, so we're looking at how we can utilise more of the crop for more of the year."
Food wastage is something mango grower Muy Keav Ma is all-too familiar with.
She loses about 20 of the 100 tonnes of mangoes her farm produces each season, and said she would like to see that waste be turned into juice, dried fruit or green mango powder instead.
"We put a lot of resources into it ... for the whole year that's our only income. When you see a lot of waste you feel sad, depressed and your money's gone," she said.
"I tried to cut up some of the mangoes to sell at the market but there was still a lot of waste because I didn't have a lot of energy or enough hands helping me."
She hopes a project like NAFTI could help her make the most of her crop in future seasons.
"This would be wonderful for the NT because we don't have that sort of thing, and the farmers would be very happy."