City of Playford—located 30 kilometres north of Adelaide is one
of South Australia’s fastest growing regions. This Horticultural
paper is one of ten Fact Sheets developed to assist investors and
stakeholders in highlighting growth industries in Northern
Adelaide.
The Virginia Horticulture district contributes $92 million to farm
gate production, $500 million to food processing and $474
million towards interstate export income from food. Both food
miles and food security are becoming increasingly important as is
maintaining this vital food producing and processing area.
Angle Vale and Virginia form part of the Adelaide Plains
horticultural area which contribute substantially to the local
economy, equating to 16% of South Australia’s horticultural
production. There is additional potential for the Horticultural
Industry of the Adelaide Plains to double its production to
$200m farm gate value by 2030 which would result in the
creation of an additional 2,400 jobs.
More than 100km of pipes bring Class A treated wastewater
from the Bolivar wastewater treatment plant to the region and
provide an alternative source of water to local irrigators. A
pipeline extension project will meet future demand with an
additional 18km of pipelines extending to Angle Vale, allowing
up to another 3000 megalitres of treated water to be supplied to
the region every year.
There are limited areas in SA where all the requisite factors are
present to support a horticulture industry. Suitable soil and
climate, water supply, infrastructure and an available workforce
are all present in the Adelaide Plains.