National Vegetable Industry Centre, Yanco
Introduction
The Yanco Agricultural Institute offers a site that is central to the largest vegetable-producing areas outside the Sydney Basin. For vegetable research it offers a variety of soil types, irrigation techniques and rotational systems that are integral to advanced broadacre research programs.
The National Vegetable Industry Centre at Yanco conducts research, advisory and education programs into irrigated vegetable production systems with the aim to improve the economic and environmental sustainability of irrigated vegetable industries by science-based advice and innovations.
Strategies
Strategies include:
- conducting appropriate high quality integrated research on profitable and sustainable irrigated vegetable systems that reflect the needs of growers, consumers and the environment;
- developing appropriate information on profitable and sustainable irrigated vegetable systems;
- facilitating and supporting irrigated vegetable experts;
- researching and reviewing the best ways of extending information on profitable and sustainable irrigated vegetable systems;
- extending and promoting information on profitable and sustainable irrigated vegetable systems.
Staff
Staff skills include:
- plant protection - pests, diseases and weeds
- product development including cultivar evaluation
- irrigation management
- spray application
- quality and farm business management
- diagnostics
- extension.
Current projects
Current projects and activities include:
- vegetable irrigation scoping study
- processing tomato varietal improvement
- onion thrips management
- potential for drip irrigation for mild onions
- lettuce IPM
- managing lettuce aphid
- managing northern corn leaf blight in sweet corn
- fusarium cob-rot management in sweet corn
- managing bean root and stem diseases
- improvement of vegetable production and postharvest management systems in Cambodia and Australia.
