2017 BANKSIA SMART AWARD

Sundrop Farms, SA

Sundrop is a global leader in sustainable agriculture growing high-value crops of fruits and vegetables. They utilise technology and operational skills to develop, construct and operate greenhouses in locations that have little or no access to arable land, fresh water sources, grid electricity or natural gas. Sundrop provides a unique and innovative solution to environmental challenges in farming. As the world’s population continues to grow, Sundrop is de-coupling food production from finite resources and relying instead on renewable resources to grow the world’s food industry, not just profitably but also sustainably. The use of state-of-the-art greenhouses combined with the use of renewable resources like sun and sea water as inputs allows it to not be affected by the vagaries of the weather, drought or energy markets, resulting in cost stability for our customers. Its greenhouses not only provide a climate-controlled hydroponic system that allows production all year-round but also allow the close monitoring of plants and the ability to respond to issues in a way that traditional farming cannot.

Finalists:
• Dresden Optics, NSW
• De Bortoli Wines, NSW

•EDEN bdm Revolutionary, off-grid, nanotechnology thin-film solar energy production, energy storage and nano-filtration.