The Cook Labor Government is futureproofing Western Australia's Southern Forests food bowl, with grants to help 69 local horticulture businesses in the Manjimup-Pemberton region improve water security and climate resilience.
The growers will share in $4.28 million from the State's Southern Forests Infrastructure Support Scheme to upgrade a range of on-farm irrigation systems and devices that improve water use efficiency.
The funding will assist Manjimup-Pemberton growers to co-invest in sprinklers, drippers, automation systems, and software, as well as water management devices, such as probes and water meters, or measures to reduce evapotranspiration, like bird or crop netting.
The measures will support growers' efforts to build stronger, more sustainable operations that can endure climate variability - supporting WA's food security.
The State Government funding will support a wide variety of projects, with Applewood Orchard using its $34,000 grant towards purchasing an automated water monitoring irrigation system, crop netting, and windbreak trees on its Manjimup property.
Manjimup Kiwi will receive $100,000 to help erect fixed crop netting over its gold kiwi fruit orchard, while Appadene Park will use its $40,000 grant to install drip irrigation for 1,500 trees at its Manjimup avocado orchard.
The Southern Forests is an important supplier of fresh fruit and vegetables, producing 67 per cent of the State's avocados, kiwi fruit, and processing potatoes, 61 per cent of WA apples, and 35 per cent of seed potatoes.
The program complements other WA Government initiatives in the region, including the recent $2 million announcement to strengthen water monitoring in the Warren-Donnelly region, which will provide streamflow and water data to help growers make informed management decisions.
The Cook Government has also invested $4 million in a collaboration with the Federal Government to install a new Doppler radar for the region, providing real-time data on rainfall intensity, wind speed, and direction to support growers and emergency services.
For more information:
Hon. Don Punch
Western Australian Goverment
Tel: +61 8 6552 6900
Email: [email protected]
www.wa.gov.au