Overview of horticultural industry

•  The north-west and north-east of Victoria are highly suitable locations for large-scale horticulture developments at the primary production level. Areas with access to major irrigation systems such as the Goulburn and the Murray offer the greatest potential for growth.
• Victoria's natural competitive advantages in the primary production stage of horticultural industry include:
• suitable soil, climate and environment
• counter-seasonal growing periods for the major northern-hemisphere markets
• The major products grown and manufactured in the processed horticultural sector include:
• grapes
• potatoes
• tomatoes
• pears
• apples
• peaches
• Victoria's main horticultural exports are
• canned and packaged fruit
• processed beans and peas
• soups
• Victoria’s climate is generally favourable to plant growth, providing a combination of adequate rainfall and warmth in most parts of the State.
• In winter, growth may be restricted by lower temperatures, whilst in summer rainfall may be insufficient to meet plants’ demands for water.

Victoria’s Natural Resource Management (NRM) Regions
Across Australia, 56 NRM regions have been identified. Each state has been broken into a number of regions – in Victoria there are 10 regions in total.

Each of these regions has a Catchment Management Authority (CMA), whose responsibility it is to co-ordinate natural resource management in each catchment (region).

Key contacts
There are a number of other community groups and organisations in Victoria that aim to improve natural resource management at the farm, catchment and regional level.

There are also a number of Australian Government facilitators who work at a state level, and have a detailed understanding of NRM policy and programs. The Australian Government facilitators foster activities that fall within the Bushcare, Landcare, Coastcare and Rivercare themes.