Welcome to the Aug/Sept 2022 Lychee aPeel eNewsletter, we hope you find these industry related topics of interest.
The next eNewsletter will be issued in Jan/Feb 2023.
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Export preparedness a major focus at the Australian Lychee Growers Association AGM and Growers Meeting
Australia's lychee industry has gathered in Mareeba in North Queensland for the Annual General Meeting and Growers Meeting, where preparing growers for export was a key theme. "We are an industry that punches above its weight when it comes to export," Australian Lychee Growers Association (ALGA) President Derek Foley explained.
READ MORE - FreshPlaza
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Australian Lychee Growers Association on U.S. Exports “At the moment we can’t satisfy the demand – so it’s a happy place for us”
The United States market is expected to provide some big opportunities for Australian lychee growers in the coming years, according to the peak industry body. Australian Lychee Growers Association (ALGA) President Derek Foley says the American market is a growing space with a high demand for the fruit, after only starting to supply fruit to the country around five years ago.
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Australian government support to help make fruit and vegetable exports easier
The Australian Government has been trying to make the process of horticulture exporting easier for producers by providing support through Regional Assurance Managers (RAM), as restrictions and regulatory policies are developed between trading countries.
Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF) RAMs Geoffrey Offner and Richard Valentine addressed the recent Australian Lychee Growers Association Meeting in Mareeba, telling growers the purpose of their role is to help plant exporters better meet the regulatory requirements.
Photo: DAFF RAM, Richard Valentine at the Australian Lychee Growers Meeting
READ MORE - FreshPlaza
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Australian migration statistics, January 2015 – June 2022
Horticultural farms rely more heavily on casual and contract labour compared to most other farming activities. This is due to the different growing seasons and variations in labour demand throughout the year. Many workers are employed for short, intensive time periods over the harvest before moving on to work in other regions. As a result, this work is often suited to workers who are more mobile.
Note: These statistics report on the number of international border crossings rather than the number of people. Source: ABS
Overseas arrivals and departure data from the ABS highlights that net migration for temporary workers has not returned to pre-COVID levels despite various labour market initiatives to attract workers. Accordingly, the Australian labour market has remained tight and there are worker shortages across many horticulture farms and other parts of the supply chain such as transport, warehousing, and retailing. If these shortages are not resolved, there is a risk that production may not be able to efficiently service demand, which could result in domestic prices remaining high. Additionally, workers are likely to be attracted to higher paying sectors, which could continue to draw workers from horticultural roles. Government schemes in place such as the Seasonal Worker Programme and the Pacific Labour Scheme (and later the PALM worker scheme) have been able to alleviate some workforce shortages on horticulture farms; however, the labour market is expected to remain tight.
READ MORE - Horticulture: Sept quarter 2022
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Department of Home Affairs-Visa Statistics
Note: Source of data from The Department of Home Affairs
Statistical data is available on the Working Holiday Maker visa program and provides information on visa grants recorded for the Working Holiday visa (subclass 417) and the Work and Holiday visa (subclass 462) in the current and previous financial years.
For 2022-23 only, there will be a 30 % cap increase to the number of places available to working holiday makers from countries with which Australia has a capped Work and Holiday (subclass 462) visa arrangement. This one-off cap increase commenced from 1 July 2022.
READ MORE-Dept of Home Affairs
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The Queensland Rural and Industry Development Authority (QRIDA) is a specialist provider of government financial assistance programs, including loans, grants and rebates.
Several Disaster Assistance Recovery Grants from QRIDA are still available to assist directly impacted small businesses, primary producers and non-profits with the costs of clean-up and reinstatement.
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Central, Southern and Western Queensland Rainfall and Flooding, 10 November – 3 December 2021. Applications extended close 5 December 2022.
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Ex-Tropical Cyclone Seth, 2 – 10 January 2022. Applications extended close 3 February 2023.
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Southern Queensland Flooding, 6 – 20 May 2022. Applications extended closing on 6 January 2023.
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The South East Queensland Rainfall and Flooding, 22 February - 5 April 2022 was extended with applications closing on 5th December 2022.
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Grants of up to $75,000 are available for affected producers of the South East Queensland Rainfall and Flooding, 22 February – 5 April 2022 to hire or purchase equipment and materials, clean up, remove debris, replace fencing and other costs associated with the recovery process. Producers should take photographs of the direct damage to accompany their application/s.
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Agriculture Minister approves AgriFutures Australia’s 16:5:5 Roadmap
16 priorities in 5 focus areas over 5 years – AgriFutures Australia has released a progressive new plan to grow, innovate and drive the productivity and sustainability of Australian agriculture.
Approved by the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Senator the Hon. Murray Watt, AgriFutures Australia Research and Innovation Strategic Plan 2022-2027 (known as the 16:5:5 Roadmap) is consciously centred around driving value for AgriFutures’ thirteen levied industries as well as delivering programs that drive innovation and address priority challenges amongst the broader agriculture sector.
From attracting and retaining a workforce that will ensure Australia’s rural industries are future ready, to ensuring Australia is a leader in developing, adopting, and exporting agrifood technologies and innovation, the industry-led roadmap is unashamedly future-focused.
AgriFutures Chair, Mrs Kay Hull AO, explained, “Our 16:5:5 roadmap clearly signals the priorities we must focus on to drive value and ensure – together with our levy payers, industry bodies and other stakeholders – that we prepare for, and thrive into the future.”
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$6.4 million boost for cool-climate horticulture growers
Scientists are giving Aussie horticulture growers in cooler climates the opportunity to participate in a $6.4M research trial program to help industry adapt to climate change. Being delivered through Hort Innovation and led and co-funded by the Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture (TIA), with support from national and international industry partners, the five-year project aims to grow cool climate horticulture production by 20 per cent.
Trial sites are being set up in Tasmania, and the research team will design experiments to be relevant across cool climate regions such as south-west Western Australia, the Adelaide Hills, South-East Victoria and high-altitude areas of New South Wales and South-East Queensland.
Independent evaluation of Harmonised Australian Retailer Produce Scheme (HARPS) to report in October
An independent evaluation of the Harmonised Australian Retailer Produce Scheme (HARPS) is underway and will report back to Hort Innovation by 31 October. It follows feedback on the scheme, which was launched in 2016 to streamline produce safety audits and consolidate reporting in a bid to increase efficiency for growers and retailers. The evaluation will identify and analyse the strengths and weaknesses in the current approach for all stakeholders, assess the outcomes achieved, and recommend future and ongoing opportunities to enable HARPS to maximise impact, relevance, and remove duplication.
$15 million to safeguard produce quality amid supply-chain challenges
Australian horticulture growers have joined forces with state agencies in a $15M bid to drive supply-chain efficiencies and strengthen their domestic and international trade offerings. Being delivered through Hort Innovation and led by the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries (DAF) Queensland with financial and research support from various industry partners, the 3.5-year project will help growers manage supply chain risks and minimise produce loss.
Hort Innovation Chief Executive Brett Fifield said the project was spurred off the back of a desire to deliver quality produce to buyers every time in the face of supply chain disruptions associated with Covid-19.
Varroa-targeting pesticide under development
Amid Australia’s first Varroa Destructor Mite outbreak, the grower-owned research and development corporation Hort Innovation has joined forces with the University of Sydney to develop a world-first hormone-based pesticide that is safe for honeybees but fatal to Varroa mite. As part of the $1.2M initiative, scientists will create molecules that selectively bind to and interfere with the hormone receptors of Varroa mite and fellow honeybee pest, small hive beetle, interfering with reproduction, development, and behaviour. The target receptors are absent from vertebrates, making the pesticide safe for other beneficial animals in the environment. Hort Innovation chief executive Brett Fifield said the project aims to help safeguard Australian honeybees and will have positive impacts to horticulture production.
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China
Lychees from different production areas experience different export conditions
China is one of the largest producers of lychees. The main production areas include Hainan, Guangdong, Guangxi, and Fujian. The export season of Chinese lychees begins every year in May and continues until late June or early July.
Zhangzhou Zhuangyi Agriculture Development Co., Ltd. is a company with 15 years of experience in the lychee export market. Company spokesperson Tom Yan recently talked about current conditions in the export market.” "Different lychee varieties from different production areas enter the market at different times. For example, lychees in Hainan and Guangdong ripen relatively early, but Fujian lychees enter the market later.”
Lychees with a sky-high price of 2,098 yuan/kg, sold out within 2 days
Recently, lychees with a sky-high price of 2,098 yuan/kg appeared on the shelf of a supermarket in Beijing. Earlier, some netizens said that they bought a box of lychees called "Zengcheng Hanging Green" at the supermarket, and the unit price of this variety of lychees was as high as 2,098 yuan per kilogram.
On July 14, the salesman of the fruit department in the supermarket introduced that Zengcheng Hanging Green lychees are produced in Guangdong and are picked and airlifted to Beijing, which can ensure freshness, and a better taste than other lychees. Therefore, they are more expensive. The salesman said that a box of such lychees is about 15-20 pieces, and the price is more than 1,000 yuan. The box with a lower price may cost about 900 yuan, and the average price of one piece of lychee is about 60 yuan.
READ MORE-FreshPlaza
Israel
On the right is the new lychee with a small seed, on the left is the normal lychee (Photo: North R&D)
Israel researchers develop lychee with a smaller seed, more fruit
Good news for lychee lovers: Israeli researchers have developed a variety with a smaller seed, weighing only a quarter of a gram. This means there is more fruit to enjoy. Another achievement is that the amount of this specific variety is eight times greater than the existing variety.
Vietnam
L:R: Derek and lychee grower during recent visit to Vietnam; Derek & Jill during recent visit to Vietnam
This season’s lychee production grosses $290 million
Bac Giang, a province in Vietnam successfully harvested lychees with a total production of 199,500 tons. The province exported a total of 75,900 tons. Even with the slump in domestic consumption because of the pandemic, lychee prices remained stable. The total revenue for the country’s lychee production and accompanying services reached $290 million, an increase of 12% from 2021
READ MORE-FreshPlaza
Original 200 year old lychee tree and Lychee field visit in Luc Ngan
Europe attractive for Vietnamese fresh lychee trade, logistics remain key issue
The story goes that, once upon a time, the first lychee tree was planted in the Thanh Ha District of Hai Duong Province, Vietnam, over 200 years ago. Seedlings from the tree were brought back by fruit and vegetable trader Mr. Hoang Van Com from one of his business trips
He planted the seedlings and, because the local climate is so welcoming to lychees, all three seeds sprouted into trees. One of the three trees bore especially tasty fruits, and from this precious tree, its branches were extracted and propagated, which was the start of the regional lychee production
Meeting with Hop Duc cooperative in Vietnam
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Reminder
The growers online tree survey is still open. It is a confidential survey with the link to the ALGA website, growers are not responding using their email addresses or phone numbers. To access the online survey you just need to click on this link:https://australianlychee.com.au/our-industry/lychee-general-info-survey complete and submit.
A results-to-date summary was presented at the ALGA Growers Meeting, but more growers need to complete the survey to assist with a more accurate prediction of the industry’s future tonnage.
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Seasonal updates (excerpts from September 2022 ALGA Management Meeting)
Area Reports:
Far North Coastal Qld
Everything looking good, apart from Monolepta beetles. Minimal set at the moment on Baitaying, weather not favourable. Probably picking in January as everything is late.
Central Qld
Good flowering in central, no fruit set yet as first flowers just opening which is later than normal. Usually have fruit set by now but not even close. 2 weeks late at the moment, it is still cool, moist and overcast most days which is delaying things.
Bundaberg
Good flowering in Bundaberg. Timing is 2-3 weeks late; flower emergence was quite early but with the cool overcast weather everything has slowed down.
Sunshine Coast SE Qld
This area is about 2-3 weeks late, at the moment flower is only about 2-3 inches long and very far behind. Ground still very wet, but a good flower, just slow emerging.
Coffs Harbour NSW
Much the same as others, very late, buds not out yet. Cold winter, too early to predict. Kaimana flowers out, but apart from that not much flowering.
Mareeba Tableland (by phone, post meeting)
Very good flowering in all areas, but in the last few days lots of empty and bare panicles/stems appearing. Flowers falling with very little fruit set.
NB: Keeping in mind that these reports & comments were made during the ALGA Management Meeting on Thursday 8th September 2022, since then changes to flowering & fruit set may have occurred in all growing areas.
Upcoming Events:
14th October 2022 - Fair Farms National Conference & Awards
31st October 2022 - TropAg Conference
2nd November 2022 - Asia Fruit Logistica
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Lychee aPeel has been funded by Hort Innovation, using the lychee research and development levy and contributions from the Australian Government. Hort Innovation is the grower-owned, not-for-profit research and development corporation for Australian horticulture.
Copyright © 2020 Australian Lychee Growers Association ALGA, All rights reserved.
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