Read the following excerpt from a news article, then respond to the task below.Macadamia nuts double in price as growers struggle to keep up with demandABC Wide Bay By Sarah Jane Bell

Posted 11 Mar 2019, 6:10am

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-03-11/health-food-trends-drive-surge-inmacadamiaprice/10886728

If you are a fan of snacking on Australia's only commercially grown native nut the macadamia you may have noticed prices rising on supermarket shelves.

The Australian Macadamia Society said the price consumers were paying for the nut had doubled inthe last 10 years, from $25 per kilogram to about $50 per kilogram.

Market Development Manager Lynne Ziehlke said part of the pricTASKe rise was due to growersgetting paid more and because of the rarity of the product."In terms of tree nuts globally, macadamias [only make up] 1 to 2 per cent of global tree nutproduction, so there actually aren't a lot of macadamias around in the world, so that's one of thedrivers," Ms Ziehlke said.Despite the price rise, consumer demand was also growing.

The industry body predicted the number of nuts that would be sold in Australia this year would beatlast year's record of nearly 4,000 tons.

Ms Ziehlke said its popularity had been driven by health food trends."This rise in consumer interest in plant food is so palpable and consumers are eating more wholefoods ... a lot of this is driven by vegans, coeliacs, and consumers looking for dairy alternatives," shesaid."You have seen a lot of niche products on the Australian market in the last year or so. There's no doubtin my mind that there is going to be very strong growth in that spaceas more product becomesavailable." The harvest has just begun in one of Australia's key growing areas, Bundaberg, and the nationalforecast is looking good.This year's crop was expected to produce 53,500 tonnes in-shell, topping the record-setting 2018harvest.

Your task 5: After justifying the appropriateness of its use, use the model of perfect competition to

support a discussion of the short run and long run prospects for firms producing macadamia nuts, in

response to the changed demand conditions.