AU: Bumper crop of eggplants
Speaking to ABC Rural at the Rapid Creek markets, organic farmer Warren May said eggplant yields were huge this wet season.
"Eggplants are doing so well at the moment and it doesn't matter what the soil environment is, you can get rewarded with eggplants at the moment," he said.
Mr May said the start of the year, and then again in July and August, are traditionally the best growing periods for eggplants in the Top End of the Northern Territory.
He said consumers were making the most of the bumper season and buying plenty.
"They're selling really well," he said.
"They're bright, they're colourful and I often say to people going into Christmas that you could hang them off your Christmas tree. They're just beautiful."
Roshel Misra runs a Sri Lankan restaurant in Darwin and said she had never seen so many eggplants in the market.
"As a wholesale price, I used to pay $6.50 a kilo for eggplant, whereas now I'm getting it for $2 a kilo, so the price drop is amazing," she said.
"The quality is really nice. They're really big and full of flavour.
"We normally buy 10 kilograms [a week] and now we're buying 20 kilos."
Source: www.abc.net.au