The Country Club Tasmania in Launceston has been chosen to host BerryQuest International 2018 from 12-15 February on behalf of Strawberries Australia, Australian Blueberry Growers’ Association and Raspberries & Blackberries Australia. During the Business Sessions delegates will have the opportunity to hear from leading Australian and international experts on a wide range of topics relevant to the growth of their business and the industry.  Many of the topics have been selected by a panel of growers who have focused on the issues that will be pertinent to the berry industry as it expands over the next 5 to 10 years. Read More »

On December 2 and 3, despite  the rain, nearly  5000 people attended Melbourne’s inaugural Hemp, Health & Innovation (HHI) Expo & Symposium. Over the last 12 months alone there have been groundbreaking movements for hemp and cannabis in Australia; Hemp foods were legalised November 12, the first two commercial legal shipments of medicinal cannabis arrived  in the country, the first defence veteran was dispensed with medical cannabis to medicate post-traumatic stress syndrome and as it stands from August  2017, a total  of 22 licences have been issued allowing patients and doctors to access a legal domestic source of cannabis for medicinal use. This is comprised of 10 medicinal cannabis licences (commercial cultivation and production), six cannabis research licences, and six cannabis manufacture licences. The Office of Drug Control (ODC) has another 56 licence applications under assessment. Read More »

Scientists have come up with an innovative approach to tackling Australia’s poor vegetable intake, with the launch of a new app that challenges people to eat more veggies. Using a gamified approach, CSIRO’s new VegEze app aims to motivate Australians to add extra vegetables to their daily diets and form long-term, healthier habits through a 21-day ‘Do 3 at Dinner’ challenge. Read More »

Western Sydney could become the country’s new ‘Fresh Food Precinct’ creating 12,000 jobs for the region when the Western Sydney Airport is up and running. A new report released today, Think Big Think Fresh: A Fresh Food Precinct for Western Sydney Airport, by NSW Farmers’ Association and leading consulting firm KPMG, has found a ‘Fresh Food Precinct’ associated with Sydney’s new airport would:

• Create a significant amount of jobs and economic development in Western Sydney
• Provide local Western Sydney communities access to a new fresh market precinct
• Provide farmers in New South Wales access to new high value lucrative markets in Asia and the Middle East.

Read More »

Welcome to this issue of Practical Hydroponics & Greenhouses.

The Netherlands has always been considered to be at the forefront of greenhouse technology and is the undisputed market leader in flowers, plants, bulbs and reproductive material as well as the number three exporter in the world of nutritional horticulture products.

Dutch inventiveness under glass is well known. Nowhere else in the world are plants cultivated on such a large scale – Dutch greenhouses cover an area of more than 60 km², constituting a city of glass – and with a relatively low impact on the environment. The focus is on concepts and technologies that facilitate energy-efficiency and adaptability to climate change. Read More »

In the face of formidable challenges, Tasman Bay Herbs today supplies 30 different varieties of culinary herbs and salad green to supermarkets across New Zealand.

From a random encounter with a book on hydroponics 13 years ago, Don Grant and his then wife, Yoka De Houwer, went from 375 square metres of glasshouse in New Zealand’s Riwaka’s Dehra Doon valley to about 5000sqm growing fresh herbs hydroponically – under the banner of Tasman Bay Herbs – for supermarkets from Auckland to Queenstown. Read More »

Graeme Smith Consulting, in association with GOTafe (Shepparton VIC) and Autogrow (Auckland NZ), have promulgated a 4½ day Greenhouse Technical Management training course to be held at the offices of Autogrow in Auckland NZ from Monday 13^th to Friday 17^th November. Read More »