AUSVEG and the EnviroVeg Program have joined a collaboration of horticulture industry groups in a new project investigating the use of remote monitoring, to support vegetable producers automate the collection of data to improve their environmental credentials.
Funded through the Australian Government’s Landcare Smart Farming Partnerships program, the Digital remote monitoring to improve horticulture’s environmental performance (ST19024) project is being delivered through Hort Innovation.
Other project collaborators include Applied Horticultural Research, Hitachi, Freshcare, Growcom, Greenlife Industry Australia, the Australian Banana Growers Council, and the Australian Macadamia Society. Supporting improved environmental practices is a key objective of the three-year project. It will investigate the use of various digital monitoring methods to give vegetable producers access to new ways of collecting and using farm data, to use as evidence of their environmental performance.
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This could be done through identifying inefficiencies, filling in the gaps and having more efficient operations with optimised use of inputs. Current technology developments provide a range of sensors and tools which can continuously monitor key components of farm performance. These sensors and tools can monitor and measure vegetable production environmental indicators to quantify baseline performance; inform decision making; drive good environmental stewardship; and natural resource use resulting in evidence to help build and support strong markets.
With a focus on protecting ecosystems in horticulture growing regions, the project is establishing four demonstration ‘smart farms’ in the Great Barrier Reef catchment area. A vegetable farm has been included as a pilot farm to trial the approach. Here, remote technology will be used in the continuous monitoring of environmental indicators such as nutrient leaching, sediment run-off, water and energy use efficiency and more. A digital dashboard will integrate sensors and other data to remotely monitor environmental performance and support adoption of Best Management Practice (BMP) programs, like the EnviroVeg program.
