Historical document
Facilitating the development of the vegetable industry communication network in Western Australia - stage 2 (VG04023)
Publication date: November 1, 2008
Delivery Partner: Vegetable Growers Association of WA
This is a final research report from Hort Innovation’s historical archives. Please note that as these reports may date back as far as the 1990s, the content and recommendations within them may be superseded by more recent research.
The national industry development program had operated and been managed by Industry Development Officers (IDO) based in each state of Australia. The Western Australian program had successfully delivered on industry development issues for 10 years across two five year projects. The role was to assess growers’ needs in order to facilitate industry driven research projects, manage industry development imperatives and to disseminate the resultant research information to all stakeholders.
The IDO project in Western Australia (WA) had:
Two independent reviews of the WA IDO project indicated a broad understanding of the vegetable levy and how it worked for growers. Respondents expressed an appreciation of the IDO’s role as an organised independent and universal point of contact and communication across the breadth of the industry.
The second stage of the WA IDO program in 2004 created the opportunity to build on the existing framework and knowledge base. This provided the impetus to identify new directions in the vegetable industry and engendered a view of the vegetable industry as responsible and proactive across a range of issues vital to the sustainability and efficiency of the vegetable industry in Western Australia. The continuity of the position also facilitated the understanding of the way the vegetable levy worked for growers and stakeholders in the industry. It had also been advantageous to create a sense of cohesiveness in an industry that was based on self-reliance and driven by supply and demand.
Underpinning the above was the development of a comprehensive communication network that continued to expand with the industry. This was crucial to the development of the Australian vegetable industry’s vision of an industry that was cohesive, market focused, a producer of quality produce, profitable, environmentally responsible, and positioned as a serious competitor in the global food industry.
This historical project was a strategic levy investment in the Hort Innovation Vegetable Fund
© 2026 Horticulture Innovation Australia Limited.
Related industries
