Victoria’s commercial fruit growers and horticulturalists will benefit from grants to help purchase and install new netting – protecting their crops and increasing productivity.
Federal Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Murray Watt, and Victorian Minister for Agriculture Ros Spence today announced the expansion of the $15.9 million Horticultural Netting Program, which is being delivered by Agriculture Victoria on behalf of the Commonwealth Government.
The Commonwealth funded the original 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 percent. An increase in fruit quality, coupled with reduced adverse weather and animal damage means more dollars in horticulture growers’ pockets.
The Program provides funding of up to $150,000 (ex GST) to eligible primary producers of commercial horticulture crops, excluding wine grapes, for the purchase and installation of new netting over established production areas.
In response to industry feedback, the Program now includes a self-installation allowance which will help cover the cost of the applicant’s labour if they wish to self-install netting.
The recently released 2022/23 Food and Fibre Export Performance Report highlighted a strong year for Victoria’s horticulture industry with the state achieving a 13 percent annual increase in total export value. This was largely driven by the improved export performances of fruit and nuts.
