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Victorian growers met at Werribee on the 4th March to comment on the Vegetable Research Levy. The National Vegetable Levy was introduced in 1996, to provide funding for research and development through Horticulture Australia Limited (HAL). Money raised through the levy is matched by the Australian Government on a dollar for dollar basis, doubling the amount of money that is invested in research.
Will Gordon from HAL reported that around $14.5m is raised each year and this is directed to about 200 projects including :
Greg Spinks of CIS Consulting, is preparing a report for HAL to better inform research funding decisions for the next 5 years. Mr Spinks asked growers to consider what innovations they had adopted over the past 5 years and then identify at least five research priorities for the next 5 years. Dr. Robert Premier was guest speaker at the levy meeting dinner hosted by the EnviroVeg program. Dr Premier discussed progress into food safety issues raised by the supermarkets. Dr Premier has also begun an investigation into the impact of vegetable production on sensitive waterways, focusing on Watson Creek in Somerville. Darcy Boyd, EnviroVeg Coordinator, reported that an updated version 3 of the EnviroVeg manual would soon be available to growers.
Similar grower meetings, hosted by AUSVEG, are being held in other parts of Australia. For more information contact your Industry Development Officers :
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