Viticulture course dropped

Vineyard owners are stunned by the Skills Institute’s decision to scrap Tasmania’s only viticulture training course. The State Government has identified the wine industry as a future growth area and a shining light in an otherwise gloomy economy, but it has suddenly become a lot harder for school leavers and others to join the sector. Skills Institute chief executive officer Malcolm White said there was simply too little demand for the Certificate 2 and 3 in Viticulture, so aspiring viticulturalists would have to make do with the general horticulture courses, reports The Mercury.