Agriculture projects and research on show in the Top End

The Department of Industry, Tourism and Trade’s (the department) staff have been chatting up a storm with showgoers in Katherine and Darwin during July.

Their combined stand with the Northern Territory Cattlemen’s Association (and new “Education Alley”) was so popular it took out second place as best commercial stall at the Darwin Show.

The Biosecurity and Animal Welfare team’s Megan Pickering had a novel approach to educating the public about ehrlichiosis - stitching sultanas to toy dog hair.

The E.canis Management Co-ordinator loaded a stuffed toy puppy with the fake ticks and invited the public to find all the “ticks” attached to the Bluey lookalike.

“I hand-stitched sultanas into the toy, in all the places where ticks are commonly found on dogs – ears, around the collar, under the paws, in the armpits and groin and around the base of the tail,” she said.

“The activity was really popular, simple and interactive, and drew in a lot of people to come and have a chat about ticks and ehrlichiosis – several hundred people, in fact! It was a good extension and community education opportunity.”

In partnership with local industry groups, representatives from the department’s business, agriculture and biosecurity and animal welfare teams were also on hand to answer questions and discuss the work of the team.

Staff were able to have discussions about how industry could:

• diversify a pastoral lease and develop new agricultural produce in an area
• get help with a business plan or advice on working with government
• biosecurity matters, including how to report seeing a new bug or pest.

These conversations with the public are part of the department’s ongoing commitment to support regional industries by bridging knowledge gaps, identifying opportunities and brokering solutions for agribusiness across the Territory.

It’s part of the department’s goal to foster the sector’s capability and capacity so farmers can be profitable, resilient and sustainable across the regions.

Senior Technical Officer, Abhishek Soni and Horticulture Group Leader, Muhammad Sohail Mazhar, saw a lot of interest in the team’s stalls.

“We had a lot of interesting discussions with participants,” Abhishek said.

“The Horticulture group at the Katherine Show spoke to existing and potential growers, advisory services providers and researchers.”

Extension Officer Alex Peachey said the public and producers were very receptive to the department’s presence at the show.

“I fielded questions about the department’s work on new crops for the Northern Territory such as cotton, as well as existing crops and farming systems,” he said.

“There is a renewed interested in agriculture from the public, given it’s a driver for growth up here.”