Tasmanian Government Media Release - 3 August 2009
A national fruit growers' conference to be held in Tasmania highlights the importance of the agricultural sector to the State's economy. The Minister for Primary Industries and Water, David Llewellyn, will open the inaugural combined National Cherry conference and National Apple and Pear conference for 2009 in Hobart tomorrow night.
It is apt in these times of global economic uncertainty that the theme of this conference is ‘Innovation in production - growing our future'. Innovation in primary production is a key focus of the Tasmanian Government. Primary production is more important to the Tasmanian economy than it is in any other state, accounting for 4.6% of the Gross State Product, which is twice that of the national average.
Tasmania is investing $400 million in irrigation, delivering up to 240,000 mega litres of water per year, to put an extra 100,000 ha of land under irrigation; potentially delivering up to $200 million in produce at the farm gate. Tasmania is the only Australian state to put fruit into Taiwan and has successfully exported non-fumigated cherries to Japan.