SOURCE: Courtney Fowler, ABC
Mango growers in Kununurra are facing one of their most challenging mango harvests yet, off the back of a decade of dwindling yields out of Western Australia’s Ord Irrigation Scheme.
At its peak, WA’s largest mango-growing region produced well in excess of half a million trays.
But the forecast this year is bleak, with no more than 66,000 trays expected to be picked and packed this season.
Poor seasonal conditions have not been kind to many orchards in Kununurra with some packing sheds and picking operations already finishing up due to extremely low volumes of fruit.
A combination of hot temperatures and strong easterly winds impacted flowering before the season began, then some growers copped damage to their fruit after a severe storm earlier in the month.
It has also been difficult to secure reliable labour due to travel restrictions which have limited access to backpackers and seasonal workers during the coronavirus pandemic.
But there is a silver lining this season — for those still picking in parts of Kununurra who missed out on wind and storm damage, the quality of the fruit has been exceptional.
Some growers ‘hit it on the nose’
At ORIA Orchards, Kununurra farmer Chris Robinson said his R2E2’s were fetching a premium in the Perth market over interstate mangoes from the Northern Territory.
“Kununurra’s yields are down a long, long way on previous years,” Mr Robinson said.
“Fortunately, out this side of town, there are three or four growers who have hit it on the nose and are doing a bit better.
“We went through a few years where we got very poor yields and very poor results, so about three or four years ago we totally changed our growing strategies and it seems to be paying off.”
“We haven’t been hit by any of the storms, or had any wind to do a lot of damage. We’ve managed our sunburn really well this year. The fruit has blushed really nicely and they’ve got really good colour.”
Mr Robinson is only a small grower, but he expects to pump out more than 4,000 trays over the course of his harvest, with yields slightly up on last year’s pick.
Kununurra mangoes in high demand
WA mangoes have been trickling onto supermarket shelves in the last couple of weeks, but according to a mango agent in Perth, volumes out of Kununurra are down as much as 70 per cent from when the industry was at its peak.
Barry Doran from Fresh Express Produce at the Canning Vale Markets said he would love to be able to sell more mangoes from the Ord, which have been in high demand from WA retailers and consumers.
“Unfortunately, we have to delve into the Northern Territory to get some volume for our continually growing buyer base,” he said.
“My time is spent about 10 per cent on Kununurra and 90 per cent on other fruit, so I’m just happy to be handling the Kununurra fruit. We’ve seen some really nice quality stuff coming through.
“I’m getting repeat sales on all my Kununurra growers, so it’s just unfortunate the volumes aren’t there because there’s certainly potential given the quality of fruit out of Kununurra in a big way going forward.”
Mr Doran said during his 34 years operating out of the Canning Vale Markets, there was a time when he could supply customers with predominantly WA mangoes.
“The times have certainly changed over the years. There’s not as much volume coming out of Kununurra compared to some of the other states,” he said.
“They really haven’t hit their straps for about five or six years now [and] there’s not a lot of big growers in Kununurra anymore that do huge numbers.
“Twenty years ago you could get enough fruit out of Kununurra to sustain your programs with the chains, retailers, and independents. But right now it just doesn’t get you the numbers you need to cover the buyer base.”
Mr Doran said prices were holding strong this season, with larger premium fruit still fetching between $40-$50 per tray.
He said consumers could expect to keep seeing Honeygolds and Calypsos from the NT filling shelves until Christmas.
It is thought that COVID-19 has been driving a surge in demand and prices for the summer fruit.
More WA mangoes on the way
Further south in Carnarvon the harvest is less than two months away, with Gascoyne fruit due to hit supermarket shelves in the New Year.
Orchards in the Carnarvon Horticultural Area have also copped some wind damage with early estimates predicting the crop will be down on last year.
Meanwhile over the border, NT growers have had their own set of challenges with labour shortages but still managed to roll out more than one million trays over the past two weeks.
The Australian Mango Industry Association has forecast 2.7 million and 1.7 million trays to come out of Darwin and Katherine this year, which is down on last year’s record breaking crop that saw the NT cement its position over Queensland as Australia’s largest mango producer.
Back in the Ord, mango growers have two or three weeks of later varieties to pick and are trying to remain optimistic for the future.
Kununurra has the highest average temperature of any mango-growing region in the country, and over the last 10 years Kensington Pride yields have been on the decline.
Mr Robinson said three new varieties being trialled on commercial farms across northern Australia as part of the National Mango Breeding Program offered hope for a boost to production in Kununurra.
However he said it would take many years and significantly more trees to be planted in the Ord to get volumes back up to where growers want them to be.
There are currently 900 of the new mango trees planted on farms across the Ord Valley still at least a year away from their first pick.