The harvest of Queensland's Imperial mandarins got underway on 2nd of April at Red Rich Fruits. Tim Teague, Farming operations Manager, said that this was spot on time.
"A few growers in the region could have gone earlier but decided to wait until after the Easter public holidays.
"Growing conditions have been really good, we have a lot of good farming practices that are paying off. Across the region it's a bi-annual down year but we have been hand thinning and hand pruning as opposed to using chemical and machine treatments and that hard work has paid off."
The region overall is down around 50%, however the volumes at Red Rich Fruits is only down around 20%.
"The fruit is big this year, due to the light crop numbers. We didn't get the cold nights at the beginning of the season so brix is on the low side but it's climbing, plus acid is low so the eating experience is still exquisite and demand is always good for good quality fruit."
For more information:
Erin Hart
Red Rich Fruits
+61 424855316
erin@redrichfruitsnsw.com.au