Unit 3 Agriculture and Horticulture Studies students recently ventured to Tartura to visit one of Australia’s leading horticulture SmartFarm research facilities.
Students benefited from seeing new applications of agricultural technology first-hand.
‘The facility is an innovator in developing and using new applications of agricultural technology to increase the amount of fruit that can be sold and achieve labor efficiencies,’ said VSV Agriculture and Horticulture Studies teacher, Sarah Dennis.
The farm also features the world’s first Sundial multi-directional experimental orchard. The orchard enables new understandings of how orchard design impacts fruit production and quality, labor efficiencies and resilience to extreme climatic events.
Sarah said that the students were fascinated by how research can help Victorian growers better meet the high quality expectations of local and overseas markets.
She noted that there was a lot of interest in digital agriculture, which provides the industry with tools and information to make more informed decisions and improve productivity.
This is the first year that VSV has offered Agriculture and Horticulture Studies.
