THE environmental and sustainability credentials of a native herb producer at Kudla, South Australia have led him to win a national grower award.
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Marlon Motlop, director of The Native Co, won the Butler Market Gardens Environment and Sustainability Award at Australia's largest horticulture conference, Hort Connections 2022, in Brisbane in June.
The award recognises a business or individual who demonstrates a commitment to implement sustainable farming practices on-farm, develops innovative solutions to meet environmental challenges on-farm and shows leadership in promoting environmental issues in the local and wider community.
Mr Motlop is an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young man who has taken a native Australian product that has been grown for thousands of years by the country's First People, and turned it into a commercial enterprise, making it accessible for the wider Australian community.
Ausveg chief executive officer Michael Coote said the Butler Market Gardens Environmental Award recognises the importance of adopting environmentally- sustainable growing practices for the future viability of the industry.
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"Marlon has taken the initiative to provide opportunities for young Indigenous youth and assisting in their development towards understanding the horticulture and farming industry and seeing it as a viable career pathway," he said.
"Marlon is wholeheartedly committed to Indigenous produce, as well as ensuring the sustainability of many species and products, and making sure they are available for future generations.
"He has assisted in taking many endangered plants, near on extinction, and created greenhouse environments which have significantly reduced the overall carbon footprint of his practices, and indirectly created a positive effect of the outdoor environment through less cultivation of land.
"His practices and learnings are consistently passed on to his younger growers each day.
"Marlon is already a leader within his community and is destined to be a future leader within the Australian horticulture industry.
"I congratulate him on receiving this award."
Award sponsor, Butler Market Gardens, is a family-owned farming operation that specialises in growing herbs and vegetables.
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