www.katherinetimes.com.au KATHERINE TIMES, WEDNESDAY APRIL 3, 2013 13

Farm day to showcase pastoralists’ work>> farm and garden day advertising feature

ON BEHALF of the Minister for PrimaryIndustry and Fisheries and the staff of Kather-ine Research Station (KRS), I would like towelcome all of the Katherine community toour Farm and Garden Day on Saturday, April6.

KRS has been a centre for tropical agri-cultural research for fifty years, originallyunder CSIRO and since 1990 under the NTGovernment.

In that time it has acquired a major reputa-tion especially in the fields of tropical cattleproduction, agronomy, horticulture and biose-curity.

With reductions in research capacityacross Australia in recent years, KatherineResearch Station is now more significant thanever.

We have, for example, had for a number ofyears one of the most productive pastoral re-search teams in Northern Australia.

A major recent decision is that KRS willbecome a centre for national mango research,and therefore the mango research block isbeing enlarged and replanted.

As a result the block is not very impressiveto look at for now, but it is an exciting devel-opment for the coming years once the treesgrow up.

This matches the rapid rise of the NTmango industry which now produces half themangoes grown in Australia.

During the day, you will also be able to ap-preciate the contribution that farmers and pas-toralists make to the Katherine communityand our economy, as well as the great poten-tial that this area has for further development.

We look forward to seeing you at Farm andGarden Day.

By Neil MacDonald ReRegional DirectorDeptartment of Primary Industries