Collaborative Industry Organisation – New South Wales – Support to VIDP
The Vegetable Industry Development Program holds the objectives of assisting vegetable growers to develop their enterprises and improve their competitiveness in the face of domestic market pressures driven by supermarket, and increased international competition. It seeks to meet this objective through the translation of research into the vegetable industry into hands on information and products that can be used by vegetable growers; increasing growers understanding of end market consumers; building business and leadership capacity within enterprises and organisations; and cultivating an innovative and collaborative culture within the Australian vegetable industry. NSW Farmers, as the Collaborative Industry Organisation for VIDP in NSW has utilised its connections with grass roots vegetable growers to be a conduit of information and outcomes that have been delivered as part of VIDP. These outcomes have been communicated to growers through the coordination of face to face workshops, the use of NSW Farmers’ membership list and the NSW vegetable database to distribute InnoVeg outcomes to growers and stakeholders, and personal contact between NSW Farmers’ regional staff and growers. The project, in conjunction with NSW DPI, has also developed specialised resources on spray application and integrated pest management for vegetable growers with a language other than English (LOTE) background. As a result of NSW Farmers’ activities in VIDP, over 1200 growers have had contact, with over 30 InnoVeg fact sheets being distributed to targeted growers. A large number of growers and industry representatives have attended workshops to gain greater exposure to the practical outcomes of vegetable R&D, and new resources have been made available for disadvantaged groups to aid their production and to help them meet developing market requirements.