The Australian pineapple industry has to compete with processed pineapple imports from countries with much lower labour costs and will increasingly need to compete with fresh fruit imports. In order to remain competitive Australian growers must achieve higher yields, lower production costs per unit and improve fruit quality. They must also reduce the amount of environmentally harmful pesticides used and minimise farm runoff.

The intended outcome of the Pineapple Integrated Crop Protection Program is improved viability and sustainability of the Australian pineapple industry.

This will be achieved through:

• Improved pest and disease management and best practice adoption increasing growers’ productivity, profitability and sustainability.
• Improving product quality and consistency resulting in improved returns to growers and increased consumer demand.
• The attraction of new growers and retention of current growers through demonstrated profitability.

Growcom’s primary objective under the project is to ensure effective communication of research and development outputs to members of the Australian pineapple industry.

Growcom’s key outputs include:

• Writing and distributing the quarterly industry e-newsletter
• Maintaining the pineapple industry website
• Distribution of important industry communications
• Organisation of the annual Pineapple Field Days.

Growcom has successfully run the Pineapple Field Days since 2006 attracting around 80% of growers each year. These Field Days bring together all sectors of the industry including growers, researchers, re-sellers, market agents, chemical companies and other industry stakeholders. Field Days are a key showcase for technical outputs from the Pineapple Integrated Crop Protection Program. Growcom will continue to build on the legacy of the previous Field Days and work closely with the project partners to ensure they continue to be an effective mechanism for promoting improved uptake of new technologies and best management practices.

Contact the Growcom project manager

Natalie Brady
Manager, Communications

07 3620 3844
nbrady@growcom.com.au

This project has been funded by Hort Innovation, using the Pineapple research and development levy and contributions from the Australian Government. Hort Innovation is the grower owned, not-for-profit research and development corporation for Australian horticulture.