Students going bananas over horticulture

Five Indigenous women returned to the Tiwi Islands with new skills acquired from their VET course at Charles Darwin University.

The students completed a Certificate II in Horticulture with study/practical placements at Casuarina campus and on Bathurst Island.

Sophia Tipuamantumirri said their new-found knowledge and skills would benefit their local community.

“We have already started working on a vegetable patch with basil, sweet potato and passionfruit at the women’s centre in Wurrumiyanga,” she said.

“We have learned how to grow our own food and look after the land.”

The women’s centre, where the vegetable garden is situated, will enjoy the fruits of their labour with mangos and bananas also harvested.

Horticulture lecturer Robyn Wing said they learned about propagation, irrigation, pruning and how to use basic hand tools.

“They have really grown with this experience and it will help their community be more sustainable in their practices.”