THE Victorian Government should follow South Australia's lead and underwrite water allocations to protect permanent plantings, according to a major winegrowers association.
The Murray Valley Winegrowers say the South Australian Government's decision, combined with the relative security of NSW allocations, now puts Victorian growers at a competitive disadvantage.
MVW chair Michael De Palma said growers in the Riverland and Riverina now had far more confidence in the upcoming season than growers in the Murray Valley.
"The outlook for irrigation allocations in the NSW Riverina, another large wine-grape region, is positive, with growers there currently receiving 60 per cent of entitlement," Mr De Palma said.
"The Riverland in South Australia, with a water allocation of 11 per cent compared with 6 per cent in the Victorian Murray Valley, now has the added security of a state government spending almost $70 million on buying water to keep permanent plantings alive."
Many growers were unable to fund water purchases, according to Mr De Palma.
