The Goulburn Valley-based Fruit Growers Victoria will receive $213,820 as part of the Federal Government’s Smart Farms Small Grants program. It is the final round of the program, which will hand out $13.8 million via 32 grants across Australia.
According to Federal Member for Nicholls, Damien Drum, FGV would use its funding to work with growers and establish a soil testing regime across three fruit growing areas in Victoria: “By providing this program, growers will be supported to improve their soil management understandings and skills to increase sustainability, productivity and profitability.”
Federal Agriculture Minister Littleproud stated the grants would help farms ‘change the way they look at soil’. He added: “This is part of the $214.9 million National Soil Strategy, Australia’s first national policy on soil, which sets out how we will manage our soil for the next 20 years and will support Aussie farmers and the sector in reaching its Ag2030 goal to grow agriculture to $100 billion by 2030.”
Source: countrynews.com.au