NSW Government announces $750 000 in upgrades for Tamworth Agricultural Institute

The Tamworth Agricultural Institute has received a major boost, with the State Government announcing that a new $750 000 soil and plant processing facility will be built at the site.

The funding for the project is part of $21 million in capital works planned for the NSW Department of Primary Industries in the 2006/07 State Budget.

The new facility is part of the State Government’s Towards 2020 re-investment program, designed to strengthen applied science capabilities at key agricultural research centres across the State.

The new facility will allow for increased plant breeding as well as improved quality and disease resistance in crops such as durum wheat, chickpeas, faba beans and lucerne.

The new building will house threshing and cleaning machinery for seed testing, dryers for plant and soil samples, as well as washing, measuring, weighing and grinding facilities.

Tenders for the new soil and plant processing facility are expected to go out next month, with the new laboratory completed in the first quarter of 2007.

Other investments in the Tamworth Agricultural Institute in recent years include:

• A new $500 000 entomology laboratory completed in 2004;
• A new Sustainable Farming Training Centre valued at $1.1million. Opened in 2004, the training centre was jointly funded by the NSW Labor Government and the Commonwealth;
• A $485 000 plant pathology laboratory completed in 2003;
• A new $210 000 chickpea shed completed in 2002; and
• Refurbishments to soil and chemistry labs in 2001.

The Tamworth Agricultural Institute is one of the NSW Department of Primary Industries’ 11 Centres of Excellence and specialises in Northern Farming Systems.

The region has an annual gross value of production of around $2 billion from cropping, pastoral and livestock industries.

The Institute services 8000 landholders who manage more than 10 million hectares. It employs approximately 140 people.