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 Mareeba and Atherton in early May to meet with sweetpotato and pumpkin 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!

Pumpkin
Time/date: 2:00pm-4:30pm, Wednesday 16 May 2018
Location: Mareeba Leagues Club, Doyle St, Mareeba QLD

Sweetpotato
Time/date: 2:00pm-4:00pm, Thursday 17 May 2018
Location: Atherton International Club, 60 Kennedy Highway, Atherton QLD

These workshops are being coordinated in collaboration with the Bowen Gumlu Growers Association as part of the levy-funded VegNET project being delivered in Bowen Gumlu and Far North Queensland.

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

Bowen Gumlu Growers Association
Cherry Emerick
0427 701 225
idm@bowengumlugrowers.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.