Although you might have been enjoying fantastic Australian-grown mangoes for a few months now, the local season is only just about to start, and growers in the ‘southern’ region are preparing for a bumper, early crop.
The Southern Mango Growers (SMANGO) group is a collaboration between mango farmers in the Bindoon, Gingin and Dandaragan areas to collectively to share ideas and improve production and sustainable practice. Only 1% of Australia’s mango production is currently grown this region, which is the most southern area in the state suitable for mango trees. The biggest challenges growers face here is adapting to the significantly different conditions experienced in comparison to in the northern areas such as Broome and Carnarvon.
On 21 January, 25 SMANGO members gathered for a fruitful pre-harvest field day at John and Eve Morrissey’s West Gingin property. A series of presentations were delivered, including an update from Australian Mango Industry Australia’s (AMIA) CEO, Robert Grey on mango marketing and export opportunities, and tips on fruit quality management in the supply chain from Perth NRM’s Graham McAlpine.
A field walk through the Morrissey’s well maintained orchard opened discussion amongst growers about how best to protect their fruit from sunburn, an issue which can cause a 50% loss of marketable fruit in some years. Through a project funded by Northern Agricultural Catchments Council (NACC) and facilitated by consultant Neil Lantzke, shade cloth has been erected over an area of the Morrissey’s orchard, under which shoots have been tagged and temperature measured.
Ongoing results will help growers decide how to tackle this issue.
Boyd Arthur, Supply Development Manager from AMIA also enlightened the group on the latest crop forecasting tools and demonstrated the use of a hand-held maturity sensor which measures the sugar content of fruit still on the tree and can be used to more accurately predict fruit ripeness prior to picking.
West Gingin grower, Colin Humphrey said the most important lesson of the day was not to pick too early – growers were urged to do their best to keep immature fruit out of the marketplace. Colin is keen to utilise the meter to fine-tune the timing of his harvest this year. “If you start too early the sugars are not developed,” he explains, “We only have a three week picking window in this area and you want to start right on time.” Colin and wife Helen are expecting a crop of 3000 trays this year from their 16-year-old orchard.
Further south in Bindoon, Tony Maddern is also expecting a reasonable crop – despite erratic flowering triggered by the warm winter. He’s also anticipating high demand this season due to an early finish to the Carnarvon mango season, which immediately precedes the southern season. Tony and wife Jenny offer trays of tasty tree-ripened mangos for sale at their farm gate on Mooliabeenie Rd, as well as selling direct to markets.
So be sure delicious, locally grown mangos are a staple in your fruit basket this February and March. Make the most of the opportunity
to buy direct from farm gates in the area – it helps growers and saves food miles!
