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The National Vegetable Protected Cropping Centre was officially opened by Senator Anne Ruston, Assistant Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources, on 2nd November 2017.
The Centre is based around the stunning, 1800sq. m. glasshouse facility, designed with the world’s very best glasshouse infrastructure and controller systems, to house research, education and training opportunities in modern protected cropping horticulture.
It is a collaborative partnership between Western Sydney University, Hort Innovation, industry and our research partners to advance Australia’s horticultural capabilities.
The Centre is the first step in Western Sydney University’s vision for significantly expanding its protected cropping capabilities.
In coming years, the University plans to be home to some of the finest protected cropping technologies anywhere in the world, enabling us to develop the skills of Australia’s next generation of specialists and professionals.
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Western Sydney University researchers will deliver smart new solutions for monitoring and managing horticultural crops in protected facilities ranging from polytunnels, glasshouses and vertical farms as part of a $6.8 million industry-oriented collaboration.
Co-funded by the Commonwealth via the Future Food Systems Cooperative Research Centre, the collaboration will address commercial challenges around labour costs, pollination, and diseases to support Australian growers by researching innovative and cost-effective solutions.
The ‘Sustainable fertigation for high yield and quality vegetables in protected cropping’ research project aimed to identify novel, cost-effective fertigation, nutrient delivery and management approaches to growing greenhouse vegetables that produce increases in produce yield and quality, assisting commercial growers in both Australia and Qatar.
Recent glasshouse trials at Western Sydney University have found that native bees can be effective pollinators for strawberry crops in fully-enclosed protected cropping environments.
Learn more about the benefits and opportunities behind protected cropping as Australian industry innovates horticultural practices...
The Acting Leader of the Federal Labor Opposition, the Hon Tanya Plibersek MP, has announced a $20 million commitment to Western Sydney University to create a specialist Agri-tech and Protected Cropping Research Facility at the University’s Hawkesbury Campus in Richmond, NSW.
...it was clear to the room the future of farming in the Sydney Basin will be forever changed by the unstoppable sprawl of Western Sydney...
Intensive horticulture under glass is currently a more costly and premium market yet we will see it expand in Sydney says Prof. Priti Krishna > https://t.co/U4NZBOZM0T #Unlimited pic.twitter.com/G8IAkm4p1N
— Western Sydney Uni (@westernsydneyu) April 13, 2018
Australia’s first National Vegetable Protected Cropping Centre launched today thanks to a multi-million dollar joint initiative between Hort Innovation and Western Sydney University. The Centre will produce the next generation of horticulture experts, and help the nation’s fresh vegetable growers tap into the very best research and the latest practices in protected cropping.
Officially opened today by Assistant Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources, The Hon Anne Ruston, with Minister for Western Sydney, The Hon Stuart Ayres, the centrepiece of the new Centre is a $7 million Glasshouse at the University’s Hawkesbury campus, used for industry-driven research, education and training.
With a bold vision to enhance national and international food security for an energy and water constrained future, this new facility will help Australian growers tap into the latest research and practices within greenhouse crop production to make their operations more efficient, and meet the increased demand for fresh food that can be delivered quickly to markets...
The Australian Research Council (ARC) Training Centre for Smart and Sustainable Horticulture, based at Western Sydney University’s Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, and established with funding from the ARC, partner organisations, and industry partners, will train the next generation of professionals who will drive the expansion, profitability, and sustainability of Australia’s protected horticulture to mitigate the impacts of food insecurity and climate change.
The Smart Glasshouse Films project is a collaboration between scientists at Western Sydney University, RMIT, glasshouse film producer Innofocus, SME industry partner LLEAF and grower-owned R&D corporation Hort Innovation.
The four-and-a-half-year, $3.5m project, commenced in October 2022, is trialling the latest iterations of two retrofitted films: heat-blocking ‘smart glass’ (SG ULR-80); and light-spectra-shifting agricultural film LLEAF.
“Building on the findings from previous work, this project will develop films specifically designed to improve energy efficiency without sacrificing yield.”
The ‘Glasshouse films’ project is part of an ongoing FFSCRC research program that seeks to reduce energy use and increase resource-use efficiency in commercial protected cropping facilities based at the National Vegetable Protected Cropping Centre (NVPCC) on Western Sydney University’s Hawkesbury Campus.
The project will engage a number of higher-degree by research and early-career researchers, led by Distinguished Professor David Tissue. It is due for completion by mid 2022.
Since its launch in 2017 as a world-class education and research facility for Australia’s protected cropping specialists, the National Vegetable Protected Cropping Centre’s Glasshouse at the University’s Hawkesbury campus has produced a stunning quantity of more than 58 tonnes of fresh produce, such as eggplants, cucumbers and chilies from production and research trials.
Western Sydney University is set to play a key role in the future of agritech in Australia after the Federal Government announced it will invest $35 million over the next ten years in the Future Food Systems Cooperative Research Centre (CRC).
The CRC was initiated by the NSW Farmers Association on behalf of the national farm sector and as part of a broader industry-wide push to increase value-adding capability, product differentiation and responsiveness to consumer preferences.
Western Sydney University (WSU) will invest $5million into a partnership with the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and thirteen state agricultural universities as part of a new initiative designed to combat global food security issues presented by climate change.
The partnership has been forged between WSU, the ICAR, global industry partners and state agricultural universities. The partnership will focus on new research and developments in protected cropping and related aspects of horticulture and agriculture, as well as collaborative teaching and learning.
The glasshouse was the final feature in the episode 'Future' that took a Sydney family through the decades from 1950 as they lived and ate through history...
Prof Ian Anderson, Director of the NVPCC and the Hawkesbury Institute for the Environment, showed the Ferrone family the future of vegetable and fruit production at the glasshouse.
Explainer video that connects the University's agricultural agenda to the new glasshouse within the National Vegetable Protected Cropping Centre...
A new world-class greenhouse facility to be built at the University of Western Sydney's Hawkesbury Campus will equip the Australian horticulture industry with the technology required to meet the increasing constraints in water and energy supplies. Construction of the greenhouse, which is part of a $3.5 million joint initiative between the University of Western Sydney (UWS) and Horticulture Australia Limited.
The National Vegetable Protected Cropping Centre at Western Sydney University, and its associated research projects, are funded by Hort Innovation using grower levies and funds from the Australian Government, with co-investment from Western Sydney University.
