Beswick horticulture program to focus on Indigenous plantings.
“Let a thousand flowers bloom”.
The Roper Gulf Regional town of Beswick located about 110 kilometres east of Katherine has started a new horticultural training and development program. The neat little town, already an oasis in the area, will get new plantings of Indigenous fruiting and medicinal trees and bushes as an extra outcome of the employment training project to be run by the Roper Gulf Regional Council Remote Jobs in Community Program (RJCP) and the Bachelor Institute.
The project is already at the stage of preparing irrigation systems and large improved soil beds for planting of Indigenous medicinal herbs and bush tucker plants. It will be an ongoing part of the employment training program in the town.
Ten RJCP participants will complete a Certificate II in Horticulture. A second phase of the project will involve ten women also doing the Certificate II in Horticulture.
Experience and skills learnt will be readily transferable and participants will gain the qualifications to seek work in the horticulture and related industries.
Beswick has a long history of horticulture going back to its early days. Its rich alluvial soils, secure water supply and good community support makes it an ideal location for the project.
The RJCP Regional Manager Nerine Purton is excited about the project’s potential.
“This is something that the community requested we organise as they had previous experience in horticulture. The new project will be an ongoing structured activity which will equip participants with good employment skills and will give to the community by way of provision of Indigenous food crops, medicinal produce and beautification with plants and trees.
It will also be a continuation the recent project that Roper Gulf Regional Council undertook to green and beautify our towns with fruiting indigenous plantings and will also provide an opportunity for social interaction and the development of other skills.
There is a lot of interest in growing Indigenous plants and trees, it’s something new, but the techniques are essentially the same as standard horticulture.
We are all looking forward to seeing the first seeds and cuttings being put in and starting to grow.” Ms Purton said.
For further details please direct your enquiries to Michael Berto, CEO Roper Gulf Regional Council on 08 8972 9000.
ENDS