NORMA Higgins has received two things from Canberra in recent days - an acknowledgement of her work in Northern Territory horticulture, and a flu.
She gladly accepted the recognition in the form of the 2010 Northern Territory Local Hero award but says she could have done without the sickness.
That's perhaps to be expected flying from the summer heat of Katherine to the milder temperature of the nation's capital to rub shoulders with the Prime Minister and other dignitaries, at the Australian of the Year awards ceremony.
But the trip was a deserving treat for the horticulturist who has devoted some 20 years to improving NT horticulture.
Norma was instrumental in establishing the local farmers market in Katherine where local produce is sold directly rather than being shipped south.
Norma has also been involved in the Katherine Horticultural Association since its inception, is actively involved with the Primary Industries Training Advisory Council and is a founding member of her local group of NT Women in Agriculture.
Originally from Burren Junction, halfway between Narrabri and Walgett in NSW, Norma and her husband David moved to the Territory in 1987.
They bought the cattle station Florina but tough times in the beef industry saw them sell up in 1995 to move to a smaller block with a mango orchard.
The purchase of a few more blocks led them to their current operation of about 6000 trees which they market under the Katherine Gift label.
Norma witnessed firsthand the shrinking profit margins of operating a smaller scale farm. Rather than see the business shrivel up, she decided to push for funding to establish a value adding kitchen in the local area.
Her love of cooking led her and other Katherine women to form the Katherine Region Food Processing Group and obtain a grant to set up a commercial, community kitchen for locals to make their products.
"A number of the small people, our size and lower, were just going out of business," Norma said. "We were looking at a way to value add."
In 2008, Norma won the NT Rural Woman of the Year Award which recognises the vital contribution women make to rural Australia.
In a sign of her dedication to her community, she put part of her $10,000 prizemoney towards establishing the weekly farmers' market, which also provided an outlet for the processed foods being made in the kitchen.
Norma said she didn't know anything about her nomination for the Local Hero award.
"Heavens above, no. I got a big shock," she said.
She has watched a growing, and somewhat worrying trend within Northern Territory horticulture. Norma said the number of smaller farmers has dwindled, replaced by larger "corporate farmers", including several Managed Investment Scheme (MIS) operations.
"A number of the small growers have gone out of business. They just can't compete any longer," she said.
"We know a lot of people ourselves who had small mango farms of up to 2000 - 3000 trees but they are now just laying idle. A few have been pulled out.
"There has certainly been a growth of the big business which is an issue for smaller growers. I don't know any small growers that don't have another income.
"Even at 6000 trees, we would be flat to make enough income every year. This year we certainly did, but last year for example, we certainly didn't.
Norma said she thought there would probably be less product being grown in the area now as a result of the shift.
"But at the same time there have been some huge plantings by MISes," she said. While happy to support the horticulture sector in any way she can, Norma said another issue facing the Territory was the direction of funds for agriculture research, with most going towards the beef industry leaving little for fruits and vegetables.
"The Department of Primary Industries doesn't offer the level of support and research that is needed," she said. "It's OK for the big guys; they can afford to do some of their own research but that's then not available to the industry as a whole.
"If you have some strange and exotic bug in your mango tree and you want to ring up and find out what it is or get some advice, there are very few people in the department now, if any, that can actually provide that advice."
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