An indigenous community organisation has started small trials in Dirranbandi and St George to find whether selected native flower species can be grown successfully in the districts.

The St George based Kamilaroi Aboriginal Employment Corporation is managing the trials, with assistance from the University of Queensland Centre for Native Floriculture at Gatton and the Queensland Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries.

DPI&F senior extension officer Dave Brown said the two-year trials had been established on Aboriginal land at the former Arts Centre site at Dirranbandi and a grape-growing block on the outskirts of St George.

Mr Brown said the trials on the irrigated sites involved the Dodonaea and Newcastelia flower species that were native to the St George area.

Flowers from the two species could be used as “fillers”, small flowers to fill in flower bouquets.

He said before the planting last month, UQ had provided representatives of the two indigenous community corporations with training in caring for the plants.

Mr Brown said the first phase of the trials was to see whether the species could be grown successfully on the land. 

Evaluation of the first year’s trial results would help decide the options for a commercial native flower enterprise.

He said the trials were a spin-off of a DPI&F study tour last year in which representatives of the two indigenous community organisations visited businesses making innovative use of their land.

The tour had included floriculture businesses, as well as a range of other enterprises.

He said representatives of the two organisations had selected floriculture for evaluation because of its potential to contribute to the economic development of the land and at the same time meet community expectations of a suitable enterprise.