2004 Mango Season Information

This year has seen one of the most intense and uniform flowerings for Top End mangoes in many years. The major flowering started in early July and continued into early August. This is probably due to the late finish of the Wet Season and the good cool period in June.

The current indications from the forecast are that the major crop will start in mid October in Darwin, with the Katherine Region following on in late October/ early November.

Fruit set is currently underway in all regions and while the flowering has been excellent it is still too early to speculate on yield. The time to plan the strategies and logistics for this season is now. The key to this season will be each business working to their full capacity but not over committing.

The Territory as a whole will need to produce good quality fruit that can flow quickly through the market system and on to consumers. It will be the confidence the consumers have in Northern Territory fruit that will bring them back for more.

Industry Development Officer

David Hamilton Phone: 8999 2306 Fax: 8999 2049 Email: david.hamilton@nt.gov.au

Transport

Road Transport Contacts. [more]

2004 Mango Crop Forecasts

• October 2004 
• September 2004 
• August 2004 

Predicted Dates for Dry Matter Testing as at 26/10/04

• 26 October 2004 
• 18 October 2004 
• 4 October 2004 
• 1 October 2004 (showing differences from 2003 and 2004)
• 13 September 2004 
• 17 August 2004
• 3 August 2004
• 20 July 2004
• 6 July 2004

Mango Market Prices for the 2004 season.

Data from the Ausmarket Consultants Australian Mango Report Sponsored by AMCOR and AMIA. [more]

Mango Heat Sums for Mango Harvest

In recent years the Department has provided growers with a very useful tool for predicting when mangoes may be ready for harvest. The use of Heat Sums allows growers to make fairly accurate decisions on when to start dry matter testing their fruit and aids in predicting harvest dates. A combination of heat units, dry matter levels and internal colour will give the grower the best indications of when harvest should commence.

Heat units work on the basis that the fruit needs a certain amount of degrees temperature to enable it to mature. By finding out the amount of heat (daily maximum and minimum temperatures) the developing fruit has been exposed to and applying the correct formula it is possible to predict when the mangoes are ready for harvest.

Predicted heat units use the historical mean monthly averages (that have been collected over several decades) to calculate when dry matter testing should commence. As this is such a large database over several years it is a fairly good indicator for the growers. Real date values replace the historical values as this season's temperatures are recorded and may change harvest times slightly.

The grower can then match the flowering date to a date when the fruit will be ready for harvest. The table published in the press advises growers when they should be testing for maturity. The dry matter or internal color tests are essential for picking mature fruit.

Heat sum tables will be published in the Litchfield Times and the Katherine Times and updated fortnightly as the season progresses. The department will also be working on a Crop Forecast for 2004 using heat sums and flowering surveys.

Greg Owens
Department of Business, Industry and Resource Development

Heat sum tables will be published in the Litchfield Times and the Katherine Times and updated fortnightly as the season progresses. The department will also be working on a Crop Forecast, using heat sums and flowering surveys.

NTMIA 2004 Endorsed Wholesalers

Attached is a list of Endorsed Wholesalers NTMIA have endorsed for the 2004 Mango Season. [more]

Labour Harvest Strategy

Oz-Jobs, a Division of the IMP Group (Australia) Pty Ltd has been awarded the tender to provide harvest labour service to the Darwin and Katherine areas. Oz-Jobs will assist growers to meet their peak harvest labour needs by providing a single point of contact for growers and job seekers. This free service enables growers to register their vacancies on a daily basis. Oz-Jobs can be contacted on 1300 720 126 or visit www.goharvest.com

Interstate Certification Assurance Scheme

Interstate Certification Assurance (ICA) Scheme is a system of plant health certification based on quality management principles. [more]