THE fourth National Vegetable Expo is set to go ahead at its usual site at Werribee next year, ending months of uncertainty.
Concerns the biennial event would have to move to a new site, or face cancellation, were laid to rest at a meeting last week where the Vegetable Growers' Association of Victoria opted to accept a lease from the Victorian Department of Primary Industries.
VGA president Luis Gazzola said there were several things to be tidied up in the contract, but otherwise "it will be a goer".
"Industry wants to have it and we've got the seed companies supporting us wholeheartedly, so we've decided to go with it," Mr Gazzola said.
"It's been a bit of a battle, because the lease is so complicated, but we've sorted it out and we're very happy to go forward with it."
Mr Gazzola said the expo organising committee would employ people to maintain and establish the Dairy Rd site, a role traditionally undertaken by TAFE students.
The site has portable classrooms and an area of land that has been used for practical training and as the venue for the expo, but it has been vacant since the Gordon Institute of TAFE withdrew from it in December 2008.
The VGA had arranged a new training provider, Horticultural Skills Australia, to take over the site, but HSA lost interest after protracted delays in negotiations over the lease forced the cancellation of one of its courses earlier this year.
Boomaroo Nurseries national sales manager Wayne Stockton said he was pleased the expo would go ahead.
A specialist vegetable-seedling producer, supplying about 250 million seedlings to vegetable and herb growers in Victoria, NSW, South Australia and Queensland, Boomaroo's display was judged the best at last year's expo.
"We find it's a good way to build our brand and our name in the industry, get exposure and release new products if we have them for sale," Mr Stockton said.
"It's also a way of putting something back into the industry because the growers really enjoy the day."
The expo has been held in May every second year at Werribee for more than 25 years.
Mr Stockton said he had been to every expo held in the 10 years he has worked for Boomaroo.
During that time there had been major changes in the type and number of vegetables on display, with staples such as broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage augmented by numerous salad-mix lines and Asian vegetables.
