GROWING the business, rather than just the crop, is the focus of a new industry program which is working with Victorian vegetable growers.
Growing VicVeg is one of 10 projects nationally that has been commissioned by Horticulture Innovation Australia and delivered as part of the National Vegetable Extension Network.
It is funded using the vegetable industry levy and matched funds from the Australian Government.
The program, which was launched on Wednesday 27 July at Schreurs and Sons in Clyde, will see industry specialists working with vegetable growers to improve access and adoption of industry research and development to benefit business profitability.
Anne-Maree Boland from RM Consulting Group said the program would work to increase vegetable growers’ access to industry research and development.
“Priority areas for growers, including farm productivity and use of resources, will be targeted through this project as well as support for overall business management such as cost of production.
“A number of other emerging interest areas will also be supported including market access and consumer preferences and emerging technology areas to support the continuous innovation in Victorian vegetable production.
“New technologies, such as the use of robotics and drones in vegetable production, are becoming increasingly popular.”
Anne-Maree added: “The intent of the program is to link vegetable growers to the best available information out there so they can make informed decisions.
“The aim is to have practices that continue to drive improvements in marketable yields and overall business profitability.”
The RMCG team of Anne-Maree, Carl Larsen and Clinton Muller will be working with experienced agronomist Ken Orr on delivering of the project.
Clyde celery grower Adam Schreurs from family company Schreurs and Sons, commented on the benefits he hopes to access through the new project.
“We’re open to adopting new practices to gain efficiency in the business but it is hard to access all the information out there,” Mr Schreurs said.
“Working with other growers, sharing experiences, learning new lessons from other areas – it all helps us make a decision on what else we could be doing on our farm.
“Projects like Growing VicVeg are important for that to happen.”
The three-year project will work with regional vegetable growers to enhance their businesses through increased consumer alignment, market and value chain development and farm productivity including resource use and management.
Another of the 10 national projects being implemented concurrently include a similar project in the Gippsland region run by the East Gippsland Food Cluster.
