Innovation

Barmah Park Vinery Café has 5 tanks on the roof to collect rainwater. Water filters are installed to provide clean water for the kitchen; unfiltered rainwater is used for toilets. A pool has been built to collect the rainwater for irrigation; to avoid using tap water, Barmah Park Vinery also gained qualification to use bore water to irrigate grapes.

In weeding and fertilization aspects, Barmah Park Vinery “recruits” sheep to weed when grape vines are bare; and uses grape residue from making wines as natural fertilizer instead of chemical products. Jacky indicated: “The grape residue from making wines is the most natural and organic fertilizer, which benefits our grapes.”

Inspiration

Traditional irrigation and use of farming chemicals and pesticide may destroy the nutrients of soil and have negative impacts on the quality of grapes, as well as the wines. Jacky Lin, the director of Barmah Park Wines said: “We are aim to produce high quality wines with the most environmental ways and resources. ” So they began to proceed from the origin of their grapes, thus making their wines with better quality and the very best taste. “Our wines are like our business card and reflect our reputation, we want to make progress every year and we know every step counts,” said Jacky.

Overall impact

Jacky said: “We use a huge amount of water, but we do not pay for water now.” For Barmah Park Vinery, those environmental ways of operation has eliminated the water bill for our business. Even in the short term, Barmah Park needs to spend a lot to install water filters, tanks and equipment for extracting groundwater, and complex work to obtain permits to using bore water; the money back in the long run and these facilities benefit the business continuously.

For society, Barmah Park gains a positive business image and presents itself as a good business example for the farming industry. These innovations that Barmah Park is using enable other businesses in the same industry learn, and as a result, building a more environmental friendly and sustainable society.

For the environment, saving water and protecting the soil are the most important aspects resulting from these innovations. A large amount of fresh water is used in the farming industry, and applying fertilizer destroys cultivated land. Barmah Park is an example of how protecting the environment and producing high quality grapes at the same time become possible. Jacky indicated that: “ We are responsible to our future generations.”

Business benefit

Barmah Park Wines as a company that grows grapes and produces wines, does not use less water than other manufacturing industries. However, by using rainwater and bore water and using natural fertilizer, Barmah Park Vinery reduces their cost to a large extent, as well as increase the healthy level and quality of their wines. In addition, Barmah Park Vinery sells redundant grape residue to a fertilizer factory, which also accounts for part of its profits.

Social and environmental benefit

Barmah Park Vinery has gained a good reputation via its environmental practices, limiting soil contamination and loss of nutrients from its environmental farming methods.

Interview

Jacky Lin, Director