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.Dr Mal Hunter
Centre for Amenity Horticulture
Queensland Horticulture Institute
Redlands Research Station
Web Site: www.dpi.qld.gov.au/door/
Do Our Own Research (DOOR) is a model approach by which individual producers can undertake their own research. It was initiated in the nursery industry (Australian New Crops Newsletter #4:5) by Mal Hunter, Garth Hayes and Cynthia Carson, from Shankariah Chamala's Participatory Action Model.
A feasibility study has confirmed that nursery operators are able to conduct their own statistically sound research and require relatively little support from DOOR consultants to do so.
The DOOR concept has recently been adopted by the Nursery Industry Association of Australia, (the nursery industry's national peak body) and is being developed as a component of its training activities.
The first commercial DOOR training course has been run for the Sunshine Coast Nursery Association at Nambour, north of Brisbane and was completed on December 3, 1997.
RIRDC has commissioned the development of DOOR to investigate the feasibility and practicability of the DOOR concept in the Australian Wildflower and Protea industries.
Following workshop training sessions in August 1997, the model proposed is slightly different from that used in the nursery industry. Three focal research sites plus a number of satellite sites have been set up in Western Australia for the wildflower industry and similar programs will be underway in Central Queensland and Toowoomba in early 1998.
At least 40 wildflower growers and ten DOOR consultants are receiving training in conjunction with the establishment and management of these sites and an industry specific DOOR manual is being prepared.
Meanwhile, Rob Fletcher at the University of Queensland Gatton College, together with Peter Blessing from the University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba and Peter Twyford-Jones from the Queensland Department of Primary Industries, Marketing Group have been developing the DOOR concept as a self-help way of assessing the marketability of new crops.
Interest is high, with participants in DOOR: Marketing avoiding crops with poor market prospects or, alternatively avoiding the high costs of prematurely hiring professional marketers.
The first commercial nursery industry project, utilizing the DOOR concept, is in its final stages of development. The aim is to assess the value of introducing mycorrhiza into nurseries industry.
Seven growers will select three plant species and three potting media each, and then carry out trials to assess the extent of mycorrhizal infection and its value in improving the plants' establishment in a landscape environment. It is hoped that the Horticultural Research and Development Corporation can supply matching funds to support this project.
DOOR principles may also be useful in horticultural training. The Australian National Training Authority (ANTA) has commissioned the company, DNR Consultants, to coordinate the writing of fifty Horticultural Learning Resources Packages aligned to the National Competency Standards (in draft).
Details of one of these standards, namely, "HRT523, Trial plants products and treatments " are very closely aligned to the DOOR model.
It is expected that a generic Learning Guide will be written around the DOOR Manual in Plant Nurseries and published by ANTA. With appropriate technical support, this guide will allow participants to train themselves at their workplaces in the procedure for simple yet statistically-sound plant-related research.
Participants in DOOR:
are actively involved in their own research,
have been empowered to conduct their own scientifically sound research,
are encouraged to develop interdependent relationships with colleagues and their technical facilitators,
own the project, and
understand enough about the scientific process to be able to conduct legitimate trials.
Hence, DOOR = AEIOU.
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[
New Crops Home Page] [New Crops Program] [Australian New Crops Newsletter] [New Crops Publications] [Order Form] [People] [Crop Profiles] [Other Resources]originally created by:
GK; latest update 6 June 1999 by: RF