In this section:

Video News

Video transcript - GrowSmart

VOICEOVER:
You know science can be really fun.

These high school students are having a ball . . . learning about the science behind the horticulture industry.

And it’s all part of a hands-on science program called … GrowSmart.

Targeted at Year 11 and 12 students, the program is about igniting their passion for science and encouraging them to follow a career into horticulture.

GROWSMART SCIENCE EDUCATION OFFICER, PETER HAINES:
 There’s a real shortage of science graduates in the horticulture industry, so at GrowSmart we try to encourage students to consider studying science at university and then getting a career in the industry.

VOICEOVER:
All part of the action are soil experiments, lab tests and solving complex problems … and it happens here at the GrowSmart annual science camp.

Under the guidance of some of the state’s top scientists, these students are put through their paces in a realistic industry environment.

And who knows . . . one of these experiments could one day save the industry from a deadly disease.

GROWSMART SCIENCE EDUCATION OFFICER, PETER HAINES:
So at GrowSmart we are trying to get the kids hands-on experience, so that they choose careers such as advisers, agronomists, and research scientists that the industry really need.

VOICEOVER:
From small beginnings in 2006 with only nine schools from the Riverland, the programme has now grown to 35 schools from across the State.

And thanks to the support of Primary Industries and Resources, South Australia, these students will now spend five days working in the field.

<ENDS>