Training the future of food production
Protected cropping is the fastest growing food producing sector in Australia, yet no vocational education and training is currently being delivered to build a workforce that meets industry needs.
But a new course being developed by Mallee Regional Innovation Centre partners SuniTAFE and La Trobe University, together with the Australian Research Council Industrial Transformation Research Hub for Medicinal Agriculture and medicinal cannabis company the Cann Group, is about to change that.
The Certificate II in Protected Horticulture will be delivered at the SuniTAFE Smart Farm from April this year. The first intake will be for industry, while a classroom group starting in July will focus on people interested in a career in protected horticulture or wanting to go on to further study.
Head of La Trobe’s Plant Development and Physiology Lab Associate Professor Tony Gendall said the protected cropping industry would continue to grow as climate variability increased, making it important to get more across this system of food production for food security and stability as well as environmental benefits.
“Protected cropping allows producers much finer control over the environment plants are grown and cultivated in, so it enables more stable production and protection from pests and adverse weather,” Tony said.
There is also a lot of automation and technology involved in protected cropping. It offers a whole suite of environmental control opportunities, lots of sensing, and the ability for real-time image analysis on plant health and growth, automated picking, quality detection, and really tight air sampling and monitoring for pests and pathogens.
Tony also leads the education stream of the Regional Research Collaboration Program’s NextGen Protected Cropping program, which is funded by the Australian Education Department.
He said it was important to have a trained workforce that is aware of the different requirements that might be present in a protected cropping environment compared to traditional broadacre or an external horticulture system.
“There will always be the need for skills like picking and packing, but, increasingly, more high-level skills are going to be involved,” he said.
This also presents different study and career opportunities for students who might be interested in science, engineering or data.
An example of the high-volume container farm from Modular Farms Australia that will be installed at the SuniTAFE Smart Farm for protected horticulture students to learn on.
SuniTAFE senior manager of education delivery Katrina Watt said protected horticulture students would learn on the latest equipment and technology that is being used in industry.
The new set-up at the SuniTAFE Smart Farm will include a high-tech modular farm system, sowing and potting machine, and an extension of the shade house for growing crops with hydroponics and an irrigation pumping system.
Protected horticulture is a big industry, so we are creating a variety of units which will allow us to contextualise the course to suit many different sectors and organisations in Sunraysia and equip their employees with specific skills.
“For example, we are working closely with the Cann Group and La Trobe to develop three medicinal cannabis units, and these will be included in the training we provide for Cann’s workforce. But if we are delivering to a nursery, the units would be selected to suit them.
“We can run the medicinal cannabis units as a skills set on its own as well, for instance if someone already has a Certificate II in Horticulture, so it is quite flexible.”
Katrina said SuniTAFE also hoped to attract people to careers in horticulture given the “interactive and engaging” nature of the course and the technological aspect to protected horticulture.
“This certificate can also be a taste tester, and if there’s something they enjoyed doing, they can go into quite a wide variety of other horticulture programs we offer,” she said.
“We are also looking to develop the pathway into La Trobe to their qualifications.”
SuniTAFE last year secured $1.9 million through the Victorian Government’s Agriculture TAFE and Training Fund to help develop the course. The Agriculture TAFE and Training Fund is part of the Future Agriculture Skills Capacity Fund established under the $50 million Agricultural College Modernisation Program, which supports more Victorians to pursue careers in agriculture.
La Trobe supported that funding application through its Regional Research Collaboration Program, with partners the Cann Group, University of Melbourne, training provider PharmOut, and technology companies Photon Systems Instruments and SpexAI. La Trobe is now providing expert advice to help with course development and will support its delivery with in-kind guest lectures and work experience opportunities.