HORTICULTURE is the unsung rural hero of the Northern Territory, with total production valued at more than the live cattle export trade out of Darwin says Herron Todd White director Terry Roth.
Writing in the HTW Monthly Review, Mr Roth said while there was a local domestic market supplied by some family farm type operations, the focus had historically been on supply to southern states, particularly during their off seasons.
“The major tree crop is the mango and we have seen considerable investment in some larger scale plantations in the Northern Territory by corporate style growers,” Mr Roth said.
“In fact, Australia’s largest mango producer with plantations near Darwin, Katherine and Mataranka is up for sale. This comprises about 140,000 calypso trees and is subject to a long term lease to a local operator.”
Other large plantations include Jabiru Tropical Orchards based in the Darwin rural area, which has been advertised for sale for some time.
Mr Roth said the mango industry was continuing to develop. Earlier this year the Northern Territory government indicated it would provide up to $2 million in seed capital to establish a Vapour Heat Treatment (VHT) plant in the Northern Territory. A VHT plant in the Northern Territory would enable direct access to markets in south-east Asia by treating for fruit fly. Currently the nearest VHT plant is in Queensland.
Another major player to move into the Northern Territory in recent years is sandalwood and TFS, which has previously been based in the Ord River Irrigation area in Western Australia. TFS has made very significant investments around Mataranka, Katherine and the Douglas Daly areas, setting a new benchmark for land and water in these areas, he said.
NT horticulture producers range from small-scale Asian vegetable growers in the north through to table grapes in the centre.
“The history of Northern Territory horticulture is littered with less successful ventures including the Humpty Doo rice project and more recently, peanuts in the Katherine area. Experimental crops even include opium poppy,” Mr Roth said.
“The Northern Territory is a vast place but there are relatively few places where areas of good soils intersect with available water.
“Where they do, there is great potential for horticultural development if access to markets is available.
“This will form an important plank in the much talked about development of the north.”