Soil Wealth: An extension project to help vegetable growers to manage soils

Healthy soil is the lifeblood of Australian vegetable producers, and most growers are keen to manage their soils in an environmentally, and economically sustainable way. This project, run jointly by AHR and RMCG, aimed to develop capacity among growers, agronomists and advisers, thereby supporting soil management that achieves long-term crop returns for growers by delivering extension and capacity building using a focussed approach. The project primarily assisted growers to effectively use existing soil management information rather than generate more information.

It aims to deliver:

• A sustainable extension system primed for up scaling, controlled by industry
• Agronomists supported, trained and linked to ongoing programs
• Demonstration sites to see benefits on farm (biofumigation, biology, reduced tillage, nutrition, disease)
• Improved resource use efficiency on farm resulting in reduced input costs (e.g. for crop protection products, fuel, fertilizer)
• Increased productivity, higher marketable yield/packout.