The mango harvest in Australia's Northern Territory is underway, with farms near Darwin beginning to pick fruit for domestic markets. The region is expected to produce 2.2 million trays this season, a volume in line with last year.
Saramat "Tou" Ruchkaew has commenced small-scale harvesting of Kensington Pride (KP) mangoes and said volumes will soon increase. "I think the season will be good this year," she said. "The weather hasn't been extreme, it has been cool and we've had the jumpers on. But the mangoes are happy, they're plump, and it's very exciting."
According to Australian Mango Industry Association president Trevor Dunmall, the Top End is likely to see a longer harvest period this year due to weather conditions. "Growers are reporting there's fruit coming into market already, but also fruit at a very young age on the tree," he said. "So for growers, that means they spend more time in the orchard and spend more money on labour, because they have to go past the trees multiple times for picking."
Retail pricing in Darwin currently has KP mangoes at AU$3.90 (US$2.60) each and R2E2 mangoes at AU$5 (US$3.30). At Sydney Markets this week, premium trays of KP mangoes were trading at AU$55–60 (US$36–39).
Consumers this season will also see a wide range of varieties. Ruchkaew has been developing the Maha Bliss mango and now has 50,000 trees planted. "It's reliable and it's very good-looking, the Miss Universe of fruit," she said. The variety is being supplied to major supermarkets nationwide.
Crop forecasts for Katherine/Mataranka (NT) and Kununurra (WA) will be released in the coming weeks, followed by figures for Queensland. For several years, the Northern Territory has been Australia's leading mango-producing region, accounting for more than 50% of national output.
The annual Brisbane Markets mango auction will be held on September 18.
Source: ABC News
