Skills for Controlled Environment Horticulture
14
description
Skills for Controlled Environment Horticulture. from www.aces.edu. The Protected Cropping Industry. Modern face of horticulture Fastest growing food producing sector in Australia Equivalent to 20% of total value of vegetable and flower production - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
Transcript of Skills for Controlled Environment Horticulture
Skills for Controlled Environment Horticulture
from www.aces.edu
The Protected Cropping Industry
• Modern face of horticulture• Fastest growing food producing sector in
Australia• Equivalent to 20% of total value of vegetable
and flower production• Combining all sectors industry contributes
around $1 billion to the national economy• Employs over 10,000+ people throughout
Australia• Industry expanding at 4 – 6% per annum
How it Works
FERTILIZER CONCENTRATE TANKS
B C DA
ACID TANK
pH
E.C. pH SENSORS
COMPUTER
WaterIn
PUMP PUMP
MIXINGTANK
DOSING PUMPS
The Problem with Protected Cropping
• Unique production systems
• Heavily technology based
• Current programs focus on soil-based production
• Lack of training imposes limits on industry growth and profitability
Pathways to Production
• Horticulture Aust Ltd (HAL) funded
• AHGA, NSW DPI & GOTAFE
• Took existing units and modified
• Created new units• Identified additional skill
sets• Meetings with growers
provided feedback
Skills for Controlled Environment Horticulture• Skills Victoria
funded• Formed advisory
group• Brought together
group of Bellarine Peninsula growers
• Identified priorities for training
• Pilot program
National Greenhouse Waste-Water Recycling Workshop • HAL funded• Partnered with consultants, Graeme
Smith & Rick Donnan• Series of 1 day workshops delivered
to key areas across 6 states
Recirculating System
FreshWater
Nutrients and acid
Growing System
BatchTank
@ 1.5 EC
DrainTank
Sterilisation
RecycleTank
Pre EC ProbeControls 3-way Valve
to 1.1 EC
@ 2.6 EC
3.7 EC
30%
Haifast Software
