AgXtra’s national horticultural manager Ben Hill-Ling has been named Researcher of the Year at the recent South Australian Premier’s Horticulture awards for Excellence.

Another team member, AgXtra research officer Trinh Mai Nguyen was nominated for the Women in Horticulture award.

AgXtra managing director Richard Porter said, “We are incredibly proud of their individual achievements, and those of our broader teams, and we continuously seek to be worthy of such recognition in all of our pursuits.”

He said the company has a a strong track record conducting research trials in potatoes, onions, pome fruit, citrus, almonds, carrots, lettuce, brassicas, tomatoes, cucurbits, table grapes and wine grapes in South Australia.

AgXtra is currently pursuing opportunities for conducting horticultural work in southern NSW and Victoria, commencing in spring this year as it seeks to extend the geographic reach of its services.

AgXtra marketing manager Alana Hill-Ling said rationalisations in the applied agricultural research space over the past 12 months has seen AgXtra emerge as a leader in the field.

From humble beginnings as a single operator based out of an office in South Australia, AgXtra has expanded its geographical footprint to include offices across SA, NSW and Victoria.

The company offers a range of professional services to a broad client base in the broadacre and horticultural crop protection segments, as well as plant breeding and industry-funded project work.

“Over the past 20 years, the AgXtra team has been instrumental in developing a range of emerging products, varieties and inputs that have ultimately transformed modern cropping systems,” Ms Hill-Ling said.

“From the beginning, the business’ core activities have largely been focused on broadacre crop protection research and the provision of plant breeding field trial services, conducting hundreds of trials in this area every year.

“However, the horticultural sector of the business is now gaining significant recognition,” she said.