Using the Vegetable Fund, Hort Innovation has invested in a project to coordinate the agrichemical needs of the Australian vegetable industry by identifying and prioritising potential gaps in growers’ access to the chemistry they need to maintain their productivity and protect their crops.

This information is then used to help growers in a number of ways, including by directing R&D funding for crop protection purposes, like Hort Innovation’s permit renewal and registration projects.

Patrick Arratia, who works at AUSVEG as the Project Coordinator – Agrichemical Pest Management Needs and Priorities, will be visiting Bundaberg in early May to meet with sweetpotato and zucchini growers to discuss his pest and disease prioritisation process. If you’re in the region and you grow those crops, Patrick is eager to hear from you about your agrichemical needs!

Sweetpotato
Time/date: 10:00am-12:00noon, Friday 4 May 2018
Location: Bundaberg Business Enterprise Centre – Webb Room, Corner Quay and Tantitha Streets, Bundaberg QLD

Zucchini
Time/date: 1:00pm-3:00pm, Friday 4 May 2018
Location: Bundaberg Business Enterprise Centre – Webb Room, Corner Quay and Tantitha Streets, Bundaberg QLD

These workshops are being coordinated in collaboration with Bundaberg Fruit & Vegetable Growers as part of the levy-funded VegNET project being delivered in the Wide Bay-Burnett region.

If you’d like more information about these workshops or would like to RSVP to attend, use the following contact details:

BFVG
Michelle Haase
0428 716 218
michelle.haase@bfvg.com.au

AUSVEG
Patrick Arratia
0418 982 572
patrick.arratia@ausveg.com.au

If you’re not in the region and would like to contribute to the project, you can take part in the National Pest Survey, which is also being used to inform Patrick’s work and helps the project identify the industry’s priority agrichemical needs for further action.