The annual Honey Gold mango harvest is underway in the NT with the first fruit of Pinata Farms' own variety, set to arrive in stores nationally tomorrow.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Most of those early mangoes have been picked in Katherine.
Pinata Farms has orchards are spread over 80 hectares on two properties south of Katherine producing fruit from 25,000 trees.
One local contracted grower also produces their mangoes.
Key account manager Rebecca Scurr said Piñata Farms expected a consistently strong season, following last year's record season for Honey Golds and Australian mangoes generally.
"As mangoes can sometimes show some biennial tendencies, it’s not often we would experience two bumper years in a row. However, all the signs are there for another great season with excellent quality fruit in abundance due to good flowering and fruit set during winter, followed by an ideal, dry spring," Ms Scurr said.
"After a big season when trees hold a large crop, they do need time to recover nutritionally. All mango varieties are the same in this regard, but Honey Golds tend to have a more consistent crop, year after year."
The Australian mango industry sent a record 10.7 million trays to market in the 2017-2018 season. Piñata Farms experienced an increase of approximately 30 per cent on the previous season.
Piñata Farms and some 30 contracted growers in the NT, Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and Western Australia produce the specialty mango between November and March every season.
Picking began at Katherine this month and will wrap up in Mildura, Victoria by the end of March.
A total of 120 workers, including 30 people from Vanuatu, recruited under the Federal Government's Seasonal Worker Program, are required for picking and packing this year's harvest.
Nine years after it was first commercialised, the proprietary Honey Gold variety now accounts for approximately 10 per cent of the Australian mango market, according to the company.
"Because many Australians now say Honey Gold mangoes are their favourite, we have progressively expanded plantings on our own farms in the past three years. These trees will reach full production by 2024," Ms Scurr said.
Piñata Farms now had some 300 hectares of trees under cultivation at its Darwin, Katherine and Mataranka farms in the NT including new plantings of about 18,000 trees since last season, she said.
While you're with us, you can now receive updates straight to your inbox each Friday at 6am from the Katherine Times. To make sure you're up to date with all the news, sign up here.
