The Career Pathways
An economist in horticulture focuses on analysing economic trends, market dynamics, and financial data to support decision-making and enhance business performance. They study factors such as supply and demand, pricing strategies, labour costs, and government policies to help businesses make informed financial decisions. Their role is vital in ensuring the profitability and sustainability of horticultural enterprises.
Agriculture Economist, Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry
Tirza Winarta
Q&A with Tirza Winarta
How did you first become interested in horticulture agriculture?
For me it started off with doing food technology in high school. I'm from Sydney, so I first got introduced to agriculture in food tech. I liked the primary production side of things, it piqued an interest in me, so I continued that into university.
The horticulture was straight out of uni. I had a break for three or four months, but I wanted to get into work, I was ready to work. So I got into horticulture. There was a position available as a horticultural analyst and I did a little bit of horticulture here and there at UNI as well, like my honors project for UNI was with mung bean sprouts.
I'm still a graduate, I mean, I finished today as a graduate, so I'll be a full-time worker now.
The horticulture was straight out of uni. I had a break for three or four months, but I wanted to get into work, I was ready to work. So I got into horticulture. There was a position available as a horticultural analyst and I did a little bit of horticulture here and there at UNI as well, like my honors project for UNI was with mung bean sprouts.
I'm still a graduate, I mean, I finished today as a graduate, so I'll be a full-time worker now.
What is the most rewarding part of working in your field right now?
Part of my role is to produce quarterly reports on horticulture in Australia so I feel like that's quite valuable to a lot of growers and industry and that's probably the most rewarding part of my job, putting out Information that's publicly available that can help growers on their farms.
We're getting all the numbers that help with policy and grants potentially.
I feel like horticulture doesn't have a lot of data compared to wheat or beef.
Like how can we get all the data from all horticultural growers in Australia?
It's hard and we don't have very reliable data, so being able to produce reliable and publicly available data is valuable.
We're getting all the numbers that help with policy and grants potentially.
I feel like horticulture doesn't have a lot of data compared to wheat or beef.
Like how can we get all the data from all horticultural growers in Australia?
It's hard and we don't have very reliable data, so being able to produce reliable and publicly available data is valuable.
There are people out there who don't really know what to do with themselves or are unsure whether they want to pursue a career in this industry. What advice would you give to them?
Just try it.
I feel like you never know what you like and what you don't like until you try it so any experience is a good experience, even if you don't like it that means that you know you don't like it so you can move on and be in a different industry. And agriculture is so big. So move to another commodity. I think there's also a lot of transferable skills that could be applied to different commodities as well.
I feel like you never know what you like and what you don't like until you try it so any experience is a good experience, even if you don't like it that means that you know you don't like it so you can move on and be in a different industry. And agriculture is so big. So move to another commodity. I think there's also a lot of transferable skills that could be applied to different commodities as well.
