October 20th, 2024Grants to boost fruit grower resilience and profits

More premium Victorian grown fruit and vegetables will make it onto local supermarket shelves thanks to grants awarded to install new netting on Victorian farms – protecting crops and increasing productivity.

The expanded $15.9 million Horticultural Netting Program – funded by the Australian Government and delivered by the Victorian Government – is now fully allocated with 190 grants delivered to 150 Victorian producers over 3 rounds.

The Program provided up to $150,000 to producers of commercial horticulture crops, excluding wine grapes, for the purchase and installation of new netting over established production areas.

The Commonwealth established the Horticulture Netting Program to help Australian growers, and their communities, recover from drought and the pandemic.

Besides protecting produce from environmental damage such as hail and sunburn, horticultural netting helps to keep out some pest animals and can reduce orchard water use by up to 20 per cent.

An increase in fruit quality, coupled with reduced impacts from adverse weather and animal damage means more dollars in horticulture growers’ pockets.

Among the grant recipients is Temhem Pty Ltd, a grower and packer of fresh fruit for the domestic and export markets based at Lemnos, near Shepparton.

The grant supported the installation of netting over 4 hectares of Nashi Pears to limit hail damage and protect against birds and bats.

For more information on how Agriculture Victoria is supporting the horticulture industry visit the agriculture.vic.gov.au/crops-and-horticulture

Words: Agriculture Victoria. Image: supplied