Land management in horticulture industries

Increase farm efficiency and minimise the loss of nutrients and chemicals into waterways using improved land management practices.

Protect reef catchments

Meet industry best practice

  • Hort Innovation is the grower-owned, not-for-profit research and development corporation for Australia's horticulture industry.
  • Hort360 is the best management practice program for the horticulture industry, providing technical support, on-farm training and access to professional networks.
  • The Hort360 Reef Certification program is a voluntary certification pathway for you to meet industry best practice in Reef catchment areas. Watch video testimonials from farmers getting great results from the program.
  • Freshcare offers an environmental certification program for horticultural growers.

Use chemicals safely

Managing agricultural chemicals is important for good land and crop management.

Learn about insect pests and diseases and disorders that affect horticultural crops.

Biofumigants are a unique type of cover crop that produce compounds with suppression effects on soilborne pathogens, pests and weeds. They can be an alternative to synthetic fumigants for managing soilborne disease if successfully incorporated into vegetable crop rotations.

To assist with managing soilborne diseases in vegetable production systems, we carried out research into the use of brassica biofumigant cover crops.

Protect waterways

Treatment wetlands, sediment basins, and vegetated drains improve water quality on farms by:

  • slowing water flows and reducing the volume of water leaving the farm
  • trapping and removing nutrients, sediments and pesticides from run-off or shallow groundwater
  • decreasing erosion.

Reduce nutrient loss

Horticulture systems are prone to losing nutrients via leaching and run-off, due to the necessity for free draining soils.

A project in the Burnett Mary region measured different soil and nitrogen management practices during capsicum production and the impact on water quality.

Denitrifying bioreactors have been identified as one potential option to specifically target and transform nitrate to dinitrogen gas in a relatively cheap, effective and simple 'edge of field' system. Read our guidelines and case studies to support farmers and catchment managers with designing and installing bioreactors.

Stay informed