Lene Knudsen and Rowena Beveridge, Growcom

Lene Knudsen is the SEQ Water Quality Facilitator & Climate Program Coordinator at Growcom – the peak industry body for production horticulture in Queensland. Lene holds a Masters degree in Climate Change Adaptation and has over 9 years’ experience delivering extension projects on water quality, climate change and natural disaster recovery & resilience for the horticulture industry. Lene has developed the climate risk module for Hort360 – the horticulture industry’s Best Management Practice tool. She was one of the main authors for the Queensland Agriculture Sector Adaptation Plan.

Abstract:

Growcom’s SEQ Water Quality Project funded by the Department of Environment and Science has worked with horticulture growers in the Pumicestone Catchment for over five years. The key objectives of the project are to promote horticulture best management practice and address nutrient and sediment loss into local waterways. This is done by providing water quality and sediment risk assessments via Hort360 – the horticulture industry’s best management practice tool, property maps and mapping technologies such as NDVI (Normalised Difference Vegetation Index), LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) and EM (Electro Magnetic Conductivity) to growers. All tools that support growers in optimising erosion, sediment and nutrient management on farm. Besides engagement with growers, the project team also coordinates a research and trial group of industry experts working to explore new management practices to further limit nutrient, pesticides and chemical runoff. This talk with present data and outcomes of the project to date.