Australia: Chisholm helps prepare protected cropping for coming demand

With supermarkets in Australia demanding more consistent supplies of produce from their suppliers, the nation's greenhouse growers are poised to benefit from increased demand. Controlling the environment and protecting against adverse weather make greenhouse-grown vegetables a reliable option for retailers, and Chisholm Institute is helping train the workforce which will run the growing protected crop industry.

Chisholm offers nationally-accredited courses toward certificates and diplomas in horticulture. With the help of government funding they were able to build a 1,500 square meter greenhouse facility in 2010 to provide students with hands-on instruction in the protected cropping industry. The facility also receives strong support from key industry stakeholders such as Priva, Grodan and De Ruiter seeds.

“The glasshouse facility has two compartments, one which is 350 square meters and one which is 750 square meters,” said Chisholm's Tony Bundock. “We grow tomatoes in the smaller section during the Winter, and planting in the larger compartment takes place in July, so the entire house doesn't get cleared out in one go.” An advantage of the staggered production schedule is that students get an opportunity to deal with different timetables and there are crops available to work on in different stages of production. The facility was also built with an eye toward expansion, so the structure can be doubled in size if additional funding becomes available. That will offer students even more crops with which to gain experience, and the current facilities, with a reverse osmosis and ultra violet water treatment system, has the latest greenhouse technology.

Educating new workers for the industry is a smart move, noted Bundock, because retailers are becoming more exacting about the kind of produce they want. They want certain sizes in consistent supplies, and the protected cropping industry is well-poised to provide that.

“There's been a big push for more protected cropping in Australia because the demand for produce is there,” said Bundock. “Supermarkets want a certain size and at a certain price, and sometimes open field growers can't achieve that.” Hot Summers pose problems for greenhouse growers in the area, and high temperatures about a month ago caused some complications, but most growers can deal with the situation with fogging systems that cool the greenhouses, and the abundant light that Australia receives provides added benefits. Also, as urban encroachment eats up land where traditional growing used to take place, the diminished production has to be buoyed from somewhere, and protected cropping can do that.

“Chisholm had a bit of vision in building the new facility because there's now a fair bit of protected cropping in Australia,” said Bundock. “So we are ready to serve the industry as it expands more.”

For more information:
Chisholm Institute of TAFE
Tony Bundock, Controlled Environment Horticulture Leader
Ph 03 5990 7163
Mob 0409 007 610
E [email protected]
Twitter @glasscrops
http://www.chisholm.edu.au/Locations/Cranbourne