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The Directors of Australia’s Drought Resilience Adoption and Innovation Hubs are visiting Tasmania this week as part of a nation-wide collaboration to build drought resilient communities.
There are eight hubs across Australia, funded through the Australian Government’s Future Drought Fund. They include the TAS Farm Innovation Hub which is based at the Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture (TIA) at the University of Tasmania.
TAS Farm Innovation Hub Director Sandra Knowles said it was a real coup for Tasmania to host the national Directors.
“The national hub Directors work together closely to discuss progress towards projects and opportunities to assist farmers to increase drought resilience,” Ms Knowles said.
“Having the team here in Tasmania is a fantastic opportunity for them to get out on the land and see the work we are doing with our partners and then apply this knowledge to their own projects back home.”
The national Directors will meet with the Tasmanian hub’s Industry Advisory Board on Tuesday. The Board includes representatives from TIA, University of Tasmania, Tasmanian Farmers and Graziers Association, Tasmanian Irrigation, Rural Business Tasmania, Tasmanian Women in Agriculture, Cradle Coast NRM, Hydro Tasmania, the state Department of Natural Resources and Environment and the Federal Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry.
The visit includes a field trip on Wednesday to TIA’s Forthside Vegetable Research Facility on Tasmania’s North West Coast. The 54-hectare farm is used for diverse research trials and teaching that directly contribute to the sustainability and productivity of Tasmania’s agriculture industry. The Directors will hear about a soil restoration project managed by Cradle Coast NRM in partnership with Simplot and Greenham Tasmania which is trialling practices to improve soil health in grazing and intensive horticulture.
The Directors will also visit two other sites.
“One is a project site managed by Ag Logic and uses soil moisture sensors and current data to inform on-farm decisions,” Ms Knowles said.
“The other site visit is Costa, a commercial berry production facility.”
The visit concludes on Wednesday afternoon.
Media contact: Melissa Lewarn, 0427 354 058.
Information released by:
Communications Office University of Tasmania
+61 3 6226 2124
Communications.Office@utas.edu.au
Twitter.com/utas
