New web portal for Qld producers
July 14, 2009
Queensland Primary Industries and Fisheries (QPIF) has launched a pilot website for producers, allowing them access to web-based decision support tools.
Minister for Primary Industries, Fisheries and Rural and Regional Queensland Tim Mulherin says the agricultural portal features 100 tools for cropping and livestock industries in Queensland.
"This is part of my plan to deliver 50 percent of QPIF services online by 2012," he says.
"The QPIF has produced economic and financial management tools for many years as part of its extension services, but until now hasn't been able to provide them as a co-ordinated package."
The site consists of financial and farm management tools, with four main categories, including: whole farm budgets, gross margins, animals and generic.
"We did an audit of our agribusiness software tools and identified more than 600 pieces. Many of these are used by staff, but our external clients and other staff don't know about them," Mulherin says.
"This new website will make the tools more accessible and raise their profile so we can maximise their use."
Assistant Director-General Regional Services Tony Rayner says the website supports QPIF's Fresh Approach initiative to modernise service delivery.
"This is the first step in developing an economic support network that will eventually include an information library of technical papers, reports, fact sheets and manuals, as well as training and extension services delivered state-wide," he says.
"The pilot is running in partnership with the University of the Sunshine Coast, which will also help to build the final web portal.
"Over the next eighteen months this initial pilot site will be evaluated and improved in line with user feedback. The number of tools will also be increased to 400 during this development period."
Through the pilot, QPIF will be looking at how effectively the website share tools with its stakeholders, and how web 2.0 technologies might be used to enhance QPIF's extension services.