Smart Farming Partnerships Project

Greenlife Industry Australia (GIA), under a Hort Innovation facilitated project, has joined with Applied Horticultural Research, Hitachi, Freshcare, Growcom, AUSVEG, Australian Banana Growers Council, and Australian Macadamia Society in a Smart Farming Partnerships project funded under the Australian Governments National Landcare Program and Hort Innovation. The project scope is based on improving the environmental outcomes of industry within the Great Barrier Reef catchment however GIA and Hort Innovation clearly identify with the project deliverables having relevance across the Australian nursery production sector.

Production nurseries are located across all areas of Australia including urban, peri urban, regional and remote communities all with their unique environmental and natural resource impediments and constraints. Technology developments now provide cost effective tools to continuously monitor production nursery’s environmental indicators to quantify baseline performance, monitor and measure improvements, inform business decision making, drive good environmental stewardship and natural resource use resulting in helping to build strong markets.

This project will establish one pilot demonstration smart production nursery in the Great Barrier Reef catchment using a digital dashboard to integrate sensor and other data to remotely monitor environmental performance and natural resource use to drive adoption of Best Management Practice elements nationally.

The project will undertake to provide relevant updating of the industry environmental and natural resource management guidance documents and electronic resources including assessment and recording platforms, digitising data capture, smart irrigation equipment, efficient auditing methodologies/techniques and industry communication. To ensure this 3 year project delivers across all of the aspects mentioned above Greenlife Industry Australia have employed Mr. Barry Naylor as our Project Officer to guide the project outputs to fruition.

Further information please email John McDonald: john.mcdonald@greenlifeindustry.com.au