It is estimated about a third of Western Australia's vegetable growers originate from Vietnam.
In the Carnarvon food bowl, this figure rises to 70 per cent.
This can present significant language barrier challenges for industry when developing communications, policies, strategies and innovation adoption to boost on-farm productivity and profits.
To help address the problem, Vegetables WA - the peak WA vegetable growers association - earlier this year appointed Chi Nguyen as an extension officer.
He hails from Vietnam, but moved to Australia five years ago to study.
Mr Nguyen completed an agribusiness degree in Queensland and then relocated to WA to take on the extension role.
"In this job, I can help WA vegetable growers - especially those with a Vietnamese background - deal with technical, agronomic and business matters to help them boost their production and profits," Mr Nguyen said.
"It is interesting work and very meaningful for the State's vegetable sector.
"And the Vietnamese growers love having me there to deal with."
Mr Nguyen visits growers across WA to discuss the problems they are having with their vegetable crop's production, processing and distribution and trying to identify what opportunities are open to them.
He said Vegetables WA could then assess how best to assist the growers.
"We talk a lot about dealing with crop pests and diseases and how to boost yields," Mr Nguyen said.
"Each grower has different issues, so we take a look together at the whole of their business and how they can make improvements or save money.
"I can advise them about changes in production practices and preparedness - especially for controlling pests, weeds and diseases.
"I help them understand chemical labels and directions for use, such as application rates, withholding periods and which products can and can't be used on a range of crops.
"Without help, some growers have potential to apply chemicals without reading the label or following instructions, so this aspect of my job is highly important to ensure growers use agricultural chemicals responsibly and effectively."
Mr Nguyen said he worked with growers who produced a wide range of vegetable types, but most were growing leafy crops, cucumbers, tomatoes, capsicums and chillis.
He said many were also vegetables and fruit-mix growers, such as those that planted strawberries in winter, so he also kept in regular contact with WA's peak fruit bodies to get information out to the growers.
"I love that I get to travel all over the State - from Albany to Carnarvon," Mr Nguyen said.
"But the bulk of my work is done on the outskirts of metropolitan Perth and through to Carnarvon."
Vegetables WA has another extension officer who mainly focuses on the Albany to Perth region.
"Obviously, different regions have different challenges," Mr Nguyen said.
He said Carnarvon's biggest limitation was that it was very isolated and relied on unreliable transport.
"Also, the weather is totally different from anywhere else in WA - being very hot and humid," he said.
"Farming practices there are very different to those in other areas and biosecurity is very important.
"Farms are pretty close together, so any diseases and pests have the potential to spread quite fast.
"Water is not an issue for these growers, but there are many pests and foliar and soil-borne diseases that they need to contend with."
Mr Nguyen said the Vietnamese growers in Carnarvon still mostly used low-tech farming practices.
"They haven't tended to be too innovative and we are hoping we can make some inroads there with support from Vegetables WA and the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development," he said.
Across WA, it can get quite competitive and Mr Nguyen said Vegetables WA did not want the growers over-supplying the market and flooding it - with the effect of suppressing prices.
"They have very good quality produce and we don't want to make it too cheap," he said.
"The message I am trying to get across to them is to grow less or optimal amounts and focus on really good quality."
A day in the life of Mr Nguyen may look like visiting farms, advising growers about new products and technology and helping them improve productivity by adopting latest innovations.
"This can be in the greenhouse, or on irrigated areas," he said.
"At the end of the day, we want to minimise costs, produce what is demanded by the market and improve efficiencies while doing so."
A more recent focus has been on integrated pest management and reducing reliance on pesticides.
This is including using biological controls that have potential to be more sustainable in the longer-term.
Mr Nguyen said he loved talking to growers, engaging with industry stakeholders and going to farmer's markets to see what growers were directly selling to consumers.
In his spare time his main hobbies are hiking and cooking.
"So, I am in the right job," he said.
Mr Nguyen said there was a misconception that agriculture in general and vegetable growing in particular were relentlessly hard work.
He said advances in automation were making things easier all the time, including working out ways to deal with variable weather patterns.
"I would like to see more and more people working in agriculture, especially in horticulture, because we need to feed the world and to do this requires us to foster our producers," he said.
