Innovation in Crops

A sustainable and proven crop in the NT, we are pursuing the development of a larger scale broadacre production system which is focused on efficient mechanised production. Economies of scale will assist with leveraging the value adding aspect of millet, large scale production will create efficiencies and provide a viable and reliable crop addition to the sector.

Sesame is an oilseed crop which has diverse applications including direct food consumption, use in the pharmaceutical and industrial food sectors. The development of a non shattering variety by industry innovators now enables us to leverage this opportunity to create capacity and develop a market and supply chain in the NT.

NT HS&G was awarded the first Hemp Production license in the NT.  We are now actively exploring a production system with the ability to  supplement products such as hemp oil and possibly stock-feed.

We are proactively investigating the yield and soil health benefits of a hemp crop preceding other cash crops as part of a complete farming system. While in its infancy there is latent value in Hemp that we will actively explore and develop.

Sun Hemp,  is a multipurpose tropical and subtropical legume grown mainly for its high quality fibre. We are focused on supplying the horticulture and broadacre industry with a cover crop alternative that gives soil health benefits, sequests carbon and assists nature with the control of soil-borne pests and disease and believe Sun Hemp may play an important role in the NT.

We are working hard on developing efficient native grass seed-harvesting and processing systems and tools as well as supplying native grass seed to domestic markets. We are also working to commercialise seed production of the  Nucal Guinea Grass which is a Panicum/Guinea cross owned by Progressive Seeds and Mulato2 for Barenbrug Seeds.

We see a significant opportunity for the NT Agriculture sector in pasture seeds and we are growing and testing seed varieties before bulking seed to commercial quantities to bring these new varieties to market.

With support from the Department of Agriculture we are growing ginger intensively in a protected cropping system to provide disease-free high-quality seed ginger to our broadacre paddock production system with the aim of broader commercialisation. We’re also working hard to develop cost effective propagation methods that will allow us to work with the industry to scale up production and enable the NT to establish a viable and competitive ginger industry.