Source: ABC Rural
Mango growers say they are frustrated that new varieties have not been made available to the industry.
Three new varieties, which promise to look and taste better, have been developed through the National Mango Breeding Program (NMBP), and once released, could help growers develop new export markets.
Katherine mango producer Mitchell Curtis, says releasing the varieties has been delayed and growers are not happy.
“The growers are upset and frustrated about it, solely because we see a good product and they can’t get it to the point where they can release it,” he said.
“I think the frustration is that we have already tasted it eight years ago and still we can’t put it in the ground.”
The Australian Mango Industry Association (AMIA) is meeting in Brisbane this week and has been discussing the release of the new mango varieties.
President of the AMIA, Gavin Scurr, says he’s hopeful the varieties will be released to growers by April this year.
“The challenge has been getting a contract in place, because the varieties are owned by four government departments, the Queensland, WA and Northern Territory agricultural departments and also the CSIRO,” he said.
“They’ve found it quite challenging to come up with a contract that the four of them are happy with, in terms of how to actually commercialise these mangoes,
“Here at AMIA we’ve finally been given a copy of that contract and we’ve sort legal advice and there’s some things in there that our legal advice suggests are a bit more onerous then would be expected, so at the moment we’re negotiating with the four parties on how to move forward on it… so there’s a fair bit of red tape involved.”
The new mangoes which are currently named NMBP 4069, NMBP 1243 and NMBP 1201, have a number of desirable attributes which has excited those in the mango industry.
They include:
– Increased and more consistent yields
– High blush levels of red, orange and pink
– Range of fruit weights to suit any niche market
– Improved post-harvest shelf life
– Some improved tolerance of disease, particularly anthracnose