Australian farmer ships first commercial lychees to USA
Treasurer and Minister for Trade and Investment Curtis Pitt said he had visited the Mareeba lychee farm back in 2015 and was thrilled to be able to return to personally congratulate Marcello and Katrina Avolio.
“It is an honour to have the opportunity to celebrate such groundbreaking success with these industry pioneers,” he said.
“An initial shipment of 242 cartons of Queensland lychees from Mr Avolio’s farm landed in the US just in time for Christmas, the first ever from Australia.
“Following the success of this initial export, the Avolios are planting additional lychee trees on their property in anticipation of bigger future demand.”
The shipment is part of a three-year pilot program by Mr Avolio and a team of industry experts including the Australian Lychee Growers Association (ALGA), the federal department of agriculture, Steritech Irradiation Facility, Horticulture Innovation Australia and export agents.
source: queenslandcountrylife.com.au
