[ 17/09/2009 ]
The 2009 Northern Territory mango season looks set to produce close to two and half million trays of fruit.
Director of Plant Industries with the Department of Regional Development, Primary Industry, Fisheries and Resources, Stuart Smith, predicts the busiest time of year will be mid-October.
"We predict somewhere between two-point-two and two-point-five million trays of mangoes coming off Territory farms and with melon production down in Kununurra there will be less pressure on transporters to move the produce to markets", Mr Smith said.
"NT producers are expected to benefit from an early season which will see their fruit hit the markets well before Queensland grown produce, which won’t be picked until the end of the NT season.
"At the moment there is no shortage of harvest labour in the Territory meaning growers should not struggle to find staff as has happened in previous years.
"During the 2008 season 15,547 tonnes of mangoes were sold at an estimated value of $38 million," Mr Smith said.
The 2009 Mango Crop Forecast is available here.