The week’s top stories (week ending 18/12/18)
Every week, AUSVEG rounds up the top stories on issues affecting the Australian vegetable industry. Here are this week’s most important news items:
Australian industry:
- Farmers seek compensation over claims chemical contamination of herbicides wiped out vegetable crops (Rachel Carbonell, ABC News)
- Fruit fly detected on Flinders Island off north-east Tasmanian coast (Manika Dadson, ABC News)
- Food carbon rating system could help reduce our diet’s environmental impact (Nick Kilvert, ABC Science)
- Murray-Darling Basin Plan secured as ministers agree on socio-economic measurement (Kath Sullivan, ABC Rural)
- Enthusiasm for the ‘Drought PM’ drying up (Mike Foley, Blue Mountains Gazette)
- Why can’t the Top End pipe some of its abundant water south to assist drought-stricken states? (Matt Garrick, ABC News)
- Queensland irrigators hope for speedy start, after $54 million pledged for irrigation project (Tom Major and Tom Edwards, ABC Rural)
- Reality rains on BOM forecast (Peter Hunt, The Weekly Times)
- Melbourne weather brings flash flooding to CBD and eastern suburbs as deluge dumped on city (James Oaten, ABC News)
- Furner promises to listen on keeping ag colleges open (Mark Phelps, Queensland Country Life)
- Female representation in Victoria’s Parliament boosted as country voters swing behind women (Stephanie Anderson, ABC News)
- Victoria’s most dangerous bushfire zone is again primed with millions of tonnes of fuel (The Weekly Times)
- CFA issues warning over dry, flammable grasslands as Little River counts cost of fires (Jess Davis, ABC Rural)
- Group turns unwanted farm produce into meals for charities (Helen Kempton, Tasmanian Country)
- Music, cabaret and … permaculture? Meet Formidable Vegetable Sound System (Jon Coghill, ABC Sunshine Coast)
- Growing sweet potatoes in a sugarcane town (Hayden Di Bella, ABC Heywire)
- Indigenous apple crumble on the menu, as Arnhem Land communities start selling red bush apples (Matt Brann, ABC Rural)
- Nutrition research this year shows many paths to wellbeing (Sarah Berry, The Sydney Morning Herald)
International news:
- USA: Study identifies mechanism that allows plants to tolerate salt (Brian Wallheimer, Purdue University)
- USA: A technology, a trend and an idea (Hannah Rivett, Produce Plus)
- Europe: New Freshfel plan to boost consumption (Mike Knowles, Eurofruit)
- UK: Dry spell wipes estimated £800m off agriculture (Ed Leahy, Fresh Produce Journal)
- Ireland: Christmas campaign warns retailers against discounting fresh produce (Hortidaily)
- Germany: Germany unveils five point plan to reduce plastic waste (DW)
- Spain: Spain’s minimum wage to jump 22 per cent in new year (BBC News)
- Israel: Machine locates fruits and measures level of ripeness (Hortidaily)
This post appeared in the AUSVEG Weekly Update published 18 December 2018. Subscribe to the Update using our online form to receive the latest industry news in your inbox every week!