QRIDA – Queensland Rural and Industry Development Authority

Summer 2022 edition Prime Focus

New drought assistance update

The regulatory amendments necessary for QRIDA to administer the loan component of the Drought Assistance and Reform Package is currently scheduled to be approved by late February 2022. Industry groups will be notified when the Minister for Agricultural Industry Development and Fisheries and Minister for Rural Communities Mark Furner makes a public announcement launching the new drought loan measures. This announcement is tentatively booked for the week starting 28 February 2022.

The grants which have been available since December are:

• Farm management grants – a rebate of 50% to a maximum of $2,500 will be available to primary producers for the cost of developing a Farm Business Resilience Plan for their property. 
• Drought preparedness grants - A rebate of 25% will be available to primary producers of up to $50,000 for on-farm capital improvements identified in their Farm Business Resilience Plan that will improve the drought preparedness of their property.

The loans that will be available soon are:

• Drought ready and recovery Loan - The Drought ready and recovery finance loan provides a concessional loan of up to $250,000 for primary producers to undertake preparedness measures identified in their Farm Business Resilience Plan to improve the drought preparedness of their property or to recover from a drought. This is a complementary measure to the drought preparedness grants
• Emergency drought assistance loan - The Emergency Drought Assistance Loans Scheme provides an interest-free concessional loan to primary producers of up to $50,000 as emergency finance for carry-on activities like paying wages or creditors during drought.
• Drought carry-on loan - The Drought Carry-On Finance Loans Scheme provides a concessional loan to primary producers of up to $250,000 for drought carry-on finance during drought. These loans will be available where the $50,000 available from the Emergency Drought Assistance Loans Scheme is insufficient to manage drought conditions.

Lychee farm stripped bare by visitors stocking up for Lunar New Year celebrations

The return of international travellers

For the first time in almost two years, Australia (with the exception of Western Australia) is set to open its borders to fully vaccinated international tourists.

While visitors from Japan, New Zealand, Singapore and South Korea have enjoyed some travel exemptions for the past few months, the move will enable visa holders from all over the world to visit parts of Australia from Monday 21st February 2022.

But for a number of reasons, Australia’s biggest source of tourism, China, will be missing in action. Unlike most other countries that are trying to “live with the virus”, China is still pursuing a zero-COVID strategy, which means Chinese citizens are only allowed to travel internationally for essential purposes, with returning travellers having to quarantine for 14 days.

2000 backpackers have arrived in Australia since borders opened

More than 2000 foreign backpackers have arrived in Australia in the first five weeks since border restrictions were lifted in mid-December with hospitality venues eagerly trying to secure their services amid staff shortages.

The federal government announced it would refund the $495 visa fee for working holidaymakers who arrive in the next three months to try and stimulate demand. New data from the Department of Home Affairs shows how few backpackers are arriving, compared to pre-pandemic.

There were 19,109 working holidaymakers in Australia on January 8, compared to 49,542 a year ago and 141,142 two years ago.

Since the borders opened on December 15 to backpackers, 2032 working holiday visa holders have arrived. There are another 23,494 people with valid visas outside Australia, and the government hopes the refund scheme will hasten their plans. The department said demand for the visas has been strong.

READ MORE

Bayer Glyphosate, Roundup production takes a hit, but Australian farmers may have ‘dodged a bullet’

Global chemical company Bayer has moved to reassure Australian farmers about glyphosate supplies after what it called a "force majeure" production setback. The maker of weedkiller Roundup said one of its key raw material suppliers had experienced a mechanical failure in its manufacturing plant.

Key points:

• Bayer says its production of glyphosate products such as Roundup has been impacted
• Glyphosate prices have more than doubled in the last 12 months
• Bayer Australia confident of being able to supply customers, but "still working to understand immediate implications"

ABC NEWS - READ MORE

Lychee Genome tells a colourful story about an ancient tropical fruit

Lychees have been grown in China since ancient times, with records of cultivation dating back about 2,000 years. Fresh lychees were an object of such desire that in the Tang Dynasty, one emperor set up a dedicated horse relay to deliver the fruits to the imperial court from harvests made far to the south.

Now, scientists have used genomics to peer even deeper into the lychee’s history. And in the process, they’ve uncovered insights that could help shape the species’ future, too.

READ MORE

IFAM helps lychee exporters reach US markets

Sustained interest from US markets has helped Australia’s lychee industry weather the COVID-19 storm. Meanwhile the Australian Government’s International Freight Assistance Mechanism (IFAM) has helped maintain trans-Pacific supply chains.

In this case study, President of the Australian Lychee Growers Association, Derek Foley reports: 

• Strong demand for lychees from North America
• How IFAM kept airfreight lanes open to existing markets

READ MORE

INTERNATIONAL

Israel

EcoLychee helps lychees peculiar skin maintain its deep red colour for up to 5 weeks. (Rishon Lezion, Israel)

What’s keeping growers and distributors of lychees, the delicious tropical fruits, from supplying them fresh to distant countries in large numbers? Many other delicate fruits, including berries, are exported in much greater quantities. So how come lychees are limited mostly to their local markets? 

For example, 95% of Vietnamese lychee produce is sold fresh in areas close to growing sites. 

The main reason is their characteristic red colour fades to yellow, and then to an unattractive brown within a matter of days following harvest. It's a race against time to get them to market, for them to enjoy only a very short shelf-life.

READ MORE

Other links relating to similar treatments are: 

https://www.agricoat.co.uk

https://www.paceint.com/product/natural-shine-tfc-210

Madagascar

Launch of the 2021 lychee campaign from Madagascar (November 2021)

The 2021 lychee campaign from Madagascar officially began on November 17^th with the start of the first harvests. Announced under the same auspices as in 2020, the campaign looked promising in terms of quality with nice fruits and good volumes. The lychees have indeed benefited from good weather conditions - rainfall and adapted temperatures - during their development on the tree, which predicts an optimal taste quality for December and the winter holidays.

READ MORE

South Africa

Good sizes on slightly late South African litchi crop (November 2021)

The Mauritius harvest is getting underway, a bit later than usual, in the early litchi areas of South Africa, like Malelane, while Tzaneen will start picking its Mauritius litchis by middle December. Early litchi varieties have been packed since the start of October, with Malelane producers now finishing with their Early Delight as they prepare to move over to the Mauritius crop.

READ MORE


China

Ancient lychee trees thrive in Guangzhou

An ancient lychee tree became a tourist attraction recently as it was laden with fruit in the Luogang subdistrict of Huangpu district in Guangzhou. Located in front of the Yuyan Academy, the tree is estimated to be more than 1,000-year-old — one of the oldest trees recorded in the city.

Every day, many local people are attracted to the tree and its round, sweet fruit.

READ MORE

The Tablelands & Far North Coastal regions

Small amounts of lychee were being harvested in early November although the tonnage from these regions did not increase until early December. Unfortunately for growers it was not a ‘big’ crop from the north but very high returns were received for all varieties. The returns for the newer varieties may have set a benchmark not seen before which did result in a media ‘frenzy’ of interviews for ALGA committee members. 

Central Qld area

The tonnage did increase in this area with good crops reported by a number of growers. Returns remained high with an increase in demand for the newer varieties. Due to the continuing challenges from the effects of COVID-19, it has been reported that the area experienced a shortage of truck drivers to transport goods interstate as well as limited air freight space for international destinations. 

Bundaberg region & Sunshine Coast area 

Very good volumes were reported in both growing regions, although the Sunshine Coast area felt the effects of too much rain and less sunshine during the ripening period and harvest. Returns levelled out slightly especially after Chinese New Year, but export remained consistent throughout the January/February harvest period. 

NSW/Coffs Harbour area (Ted Knoblock)

Hail damage from a storm on October 20 resulted in damage to approx 20% of the crop, but the high returns this season were able to make up for the monetary loss. Fruit set was good up until the hail. Since then, it has hardly stopped raining and the rain along with persistent cloud meant that summer passed us by. We have hardly seen the sun all summer. The cloudy weather resulted in a lack of bleached fruit in the tree-tops, so fruit quality was good all season.

Apart from a few loopers, pest pressure was fairly low with Macadamia Nut Borer damage only becoming an issue in the last 2 weeks. Trivor seemed to work very well on fruit spotting bug, but not on scale.