Melon industry development and communication (VM17001)

What was it all about?

This investment, which ran from 2017 to 2020, supported Australian melon growers in adopting improved practices on-farm by keeping them informed on the latest industry news, information, resources and technologies.

To this end, the project funded the position of dedicated Industry Development Manager, Dianne Fullelove. The industry development manager role was a broad one, with all activities geared towards improving the circulation and uptake of information within the industry. This included face-to-face events for the industry, such as a program of grower technical meetings throughout each year.

Some specific activities over the course of the program included:

• Visits to Asia and the Middle East in April and September-2019 which focused on strengthening the industry and relationships in key export markets.  To learn more about the in-market export missions, see reports on the Asia and Middle East.
• Attendance at the 2019 Asia Fruit Logistica trade show held in Hong-Kong in September which showcased Australian melon varieties through presentations, retail visits and a cooking display.
• Facilitation of the Australian Melon Conference and Field days. One was held over two days in September 2018, however another was to be held in March 2020 but was unfortunately cancelled due to COVID-19 restrictions. In place of the conference, six field day site videos have been published to showcase the melon varieties. As more content becomes available, it will be accessible via the Australian Melon industry website.

Core communication channels that were produced and maintained by the project include…

• Monthly Melon Enews e-newsletters, with current and past editions available here and a sign-up form here
• The industry’s quarterly newsletter, Melon News, which is distributed in hard copy form and also available here
• The Australian Melon Association website, with the industry area holding news, information and resources for growers
• The Australian Melon Association’s Facebook page
• Factsheets on exotic pests and fusariam root rot have been developed, all of which can be accessed via the resources section on the Melons Australia website.

ACT NOW

• See the in-market export mission reports for Asia and Middle East
• See report on the 2019 Asia Fruit Logisticaevent to learn more about the activities that went on as a part of this initiative
• Access fact sheets on the solanum fruit fly (exotic pests) and fusariam root rot to learn more about these industry threats
• See the 2020 conference and field day site videos 
• Access the Australian Melon industry website.