By ANEEKA SIMONIS
A STATE-OF-THE-ART hydroponics facility will be built in Bunyip in a bid to meet the state’s growing environmental and population demands.
The multi-million dollar facility will grow a range of leafy vegetables such as spinach and rocket without the use of pesticides and a fraction of the water and fertiliser used in traditional horticultural methods.
“This ground breaking new facility will be the first of its type outside of Asia, enabling 20 harvests of green leafy vegetables per year, in comparison with four using traditional soil methods,” said Deputy Premier and Minister for State Development Peter Ryan at the facility announcement on Monday 20 October.
“This is truly a remarkable achievement.”
The facility will be delivered by KAITEKI Fresh Australia, a global research institute focused on meeting 21st century challenges in energy, the environment and healthcare.
The company has already been undertaking growth trials at the Department of Environment and Primary Industries Knoxfield facility in Melbourne’s east.
Minister for Agriculture and Food Security Peter Walsh said Victoria had a strong record of producing safe, high quality produce and scientists were confident this new method of growing leafy green vegetables offers an environmentally friendly way of boosting production.
“This could potentially revolutionise the way the horticulture industry cultivates vegetables and will contribute to the Victorian Coalition Government’s goal of doubling food and fibre production by 2030,” Mr Walsh said.
The company’s horticultural investment in Bunyip represents a vote of confidence in the state’s reputation as a global leader in food production, Mr Ryan said.
“This investment is great news for Bunyip, Gippsland and Victoria more broadly,” Mr Ryan said.
“It confirms Victoria’s reputation as a world leader in the production of clean, safe and high quality horticultural products.
“To have a major agricultural company such as this willing to make a significant investment here in Victoria shows the potential for the agricultural sector to be a mainstay of the Victorian economy over the next century and beyond.”
The company is yet to annouce the location of the greenhouse or when it will be delivered, but did confirm the facility will create 40 new local jobs.
