Member for Barker Tony Pasin has spent the day last Friday touring orchards and speaking with Riverland fruit growers about the industry and potential measures to protect crops.

“The cost of water at the moment is really hurting our growers. Water prices are the number one issue on everyone’s agenda. While there are many discussions happening with colleagues and stakeholders in Canberra about how we can improve the water market, I also wanted to understand what measures we can take as a Government to help growers address crop damage risk,” Mr Pasin said.

Mr Pasin spoke with growers about the potential of using large scale netting structures to protect crops from extreme heat, pests, hail and wind.

The State Government has recently removed red tape for commercial horticultural producers planning to erect permanent netting structures, but they are still seen by many growers as cost prohibitive.  

“There are significant cost barriers to large scale netting. If Government can assist in addressing the issue I think we can see some substantial benefits. No-one wants to pay such a high price for water only to see crops decimated before they can be picked,” Mr Pasin said.

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