NOTICE: Hard copies of the Australian New Crops Newsletter are available from the publisher, Dr Rob Fletcher. Details of availability are included in the
Advice on Publications Available.This is the fifth issue of the Australian New Crops Newsletter and our circulation has now reached 1300. Of these 950 are distributed in Australia and 350 go to recipients in 32 overseas countries.
We are often asked why there is no subscription for the Newsletter. As indicated at the foot of the first page of each issue, the Newsletter is currently being published under project UQ-33A, a project jointly funded by the University of Queensland Gatton College, the Rural Industry Research and Development Corporation and the Grains Research and Development Corporation. This project is planned to run for five years from July 1993, so funding for the Newsletter may well cease in June 1998.
The responses we have received to the Newsletter indicates that there is a wide interest in the topic of new crops and a desire that publication of the Newsletter should continue indefinitely. It is proposed during the New Crops Conference in July to propose the formation of an Australian New Crops Research and Development Association (ANCRADA), one of whose responsibilities will be publication of the Newsletter.
The First Australian New Crop Conference to be held at the University of Queensland from 8-11 July is another activity of project UQ-33A.
Plans are well advanced for this Conference. Over 240 responses to the Expressions of Interest have been received, with nearly 30 of these responses coming from overseas. We are fortunate that many excellent speakers have proposed contributions to the Conference. Registration brochures were despatched over late December to early January and early registration closes on 29 February 1996. Registration thereafter will cost more.
We plan to devote the Thursday morning of the Conference to workshops. The slogan for the Conference: 'New Crops, New Products: New Opportunities for Australian Agriculture' will be the underlying theme for the workshops. They will examine needs of certain crop groups or certain regional areas. Workshop titles proposed in the Registration Brochure are those suggested by those responding to the Expressions of Interest brochure.
We anticipate that one outcome of the Conference will be the development of a national strategy document which can be used to foster new crop development in Australia.
In this issue, Kerrie Heit of Bean Growers Australia, recounts some lessons learnt during the commercialisation of culinary beans.
We also feature articles on several interesting new crops, rice flower, dates, asparagus in tropical areas and indigenous edible nuts in Papua New Guinea.
The past few decades have seen a steady increase in the demand for Asian vegetables. The scope of research being undertaken in NSW on Asian vegetables is described in an article by Jim Murison, District Horticulturalist (Vegetables), NSW Agriculture, Gosford, Dr Vong Nguyen who has been active in the research on Asian vegetables in NSW is the subject of our Researcher Profile.
Any claims made by authors in the Australian New Crops Newsletter are presented by the Editors in good faith. Readers would be wise to critically examine the circumstances associated with any claims to determine the applicability of such claims to their specific set of circumstances. This material can be reproduced, with the provision that the source and the author (or editors, if applicable) are acknowledged and the use is for information or educational purposes. Contact with the original author is probably wise since the material may require updating or amendment if used in other publications. Material sourced from the Australian New Crops Newsletter cannot be used out of context or for commercial purposes not related to its original purpose in the newsletter
Contact: Dr Rob Fletcher, School of Land and Food, The University of Queensland Gatton College, 4345; Telephone: 07 5460 1311 or 07 5460 1301; Facsimile: 07 5460 1112; International facsimile: 61 7 5460 1112; Email:
r.fletcher@mailbox.uq.edu.au[
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GK; latest update 6 June 1999 by: RF