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 seventh issue of the Australian New Crops Newsletter. Circulation has now reached over 1580 within Australia, with a further 440 recipients in 44 other countries.
We are continually revising the mailing list as we receive requests for inclusion. Should you not wish to receive the Newsletter, please let us know.
Many thanks to the readers who have written to comment on the content of the Newsletter and to offer contributions. The editors are happy to receive contributions on the subject of new crop research and development. Letters to the Editor are always wel come.
This issue will appear to be dominated by contributions from the state of Queensland. Since the inception of the Newsletter, we have actively solicited contributions from all states and this policy will continue.
However, the present issue and the accompanying supplement include several post-mortem reports from the First Australian New Crops Conference held in Queensland in July 1996.
A list of the contributions is included in the supplement. The Proceedings, including most of the written contributions, has been submitted to the Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation for publication. Copies will be forwarded to the co nference participants and extra copies may be purchased from RIRDC, once available (PO Box 4776, KINGSTON, ACT; Telephone (06) 272 4539; Facsimile (06) 272 5877).
The outcomes of the workshops held on the last day of the conference have been summarised, from the information supplied by the scribes in these workshops and are included in this issue.
From the conference, a decision was taken to form the Australian New Crops Association. The first draft of a constitution has been included in the supplement and comments are welcome. As indicated from the business meeting at the conference, the functi on of the Association will be to provide a focus, continuity and identity for new crop industries, to advance commercialisation and to facilitate communication.
It is envisaged that membership of the Australian New Crops Association would entitle members to receive the Newsletter. Back issues have often been requested and we plan to republish these as a stand-alone volume once we have completed eight or ten is sues. The Newsletter is still available on the Internet at: http://www.uq.edu.au/~gagkrego.
We had planned to include several articles in this issue of the Newsletter on regional development. Unfortunately, the focus of the Federal Government's regional development initiative, which was to be the theme of the articles, has changed. The backgr ound to this change is explained in the article from Craig Mathisen. Jean McRuvie explains the regional development occurring in Central Queensland.
Our attention has recently been drawn to Ernesto Sirolli's book "Ripples in the Zambezi". This book presents the case for the role of facilitators in regional development and hence, could be relevant to the development of new crop industries. Dr Sirolli advises that a good facilitator should "do nothing and motivate no-one". He explains how this works.
Several articles on specific new crops have already been proposed to us for the next issue. If you wish to publicise your particular speciality, please contact us.
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