Persimmon orchards around Victoria's north-east are nearing the autumn harvest. Buffalo Creek Orchards grower Frank Primerano's farm's main income is persimmons, with more than 3,000 trees growing between 100-125 tons a year.
Buffalo Creek Orchards' fruit is now sold to markets in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane, but when it started growing persimmons 16 years ago, it couldn't sell them for enough to cover the costs of growing.
Primerano: "There's now a lot more demand – originally there was an astringent variety that everyone knew about that you had to let go soft to eat, the new variety is non-astringent and you eat it like an apple. There are a lot of Australians starting to discover different fruits."
He had also seen an increase in persimmon growers in the past few years. "In the last five years it's grown, there are now a few more farmers around Myrtleford, Swan Hill, Shepparton, Barooga, Renmark all growing persimmons. I think farmers are seeing there's a bit of money in it so are giving it a go."
Source: abc.net.au