Facility gets the chop

By Kath Gannaway
WORKERS at the Department of Primary Industry’s (DPI) potato research facility at Toolangi have been told the facility is to close.
The jobs of seven of the 11 staff members are to be relocated to Knoxfield while four have found themselves without jobs.
It is believed however that the site provides employment throughout the year for another 14 to 15 casual workers, including many from the small Toolangi community.
The Toolangi site, historically know as the Potato Research Station is home to the Australian National Potato Breeding Program.
The independent Victorian Certified Seed Potato Authority (ViCSPA) also operates from the site as a tenant.
The DPI says the 136 hectare site land at Toolangi is underutilised and cites a shift towards less traditional growing environments as the reason for the closure.
“Both DPI and industry consider it essential that the breeding program develops varieties adapted to all these environments,” Sarah Dolan, DPI manager corporate affairs said in a media release announcing the closure.
While the DPI says its operations can be effectively run from other sites, including Knoxfield and Bundoora, the Victorian PotatoGrowers Council (VPGC) spoke out last week against the move.
Des Jennings VPGC chairman and member of AusVeg, the peak Australian potato industry body, said the Toolangi facility was a world-class, unique facility and called on the DPI to consult with the industry before making any further moves.
“Our biggest concern is that if we lose this we will never get it back,” he said. “They won’t replace it and they simply can’t offset what you have up there by building new facilities elsewhere,” he said.
He said many of the attributes, which make Toolangi ideal for the job done there for decades is its isolation, altitude and the soil.
He said while the mini-tuber production, an in-house activity, could perhaps be moved to Knoxfield, it didn’t make a lot of sense.
“This is the early generation material for the Australian potato industry and Knoxfield is the facility that looks at all the pests and diseases. If there are any around that’s where you will find them and it doesn’t make sense to put the industry at risk by putting them together,” he said.
“I don’t think the people making this decision fully realise the implications. Basically, they’re bean-counters; they just don’t realise the uniqueness of this facility.”
Mr Jennings said the VPGC would meet with the DPI this week.