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Rural Industries Research & Development Corporation |
Thirty Australian Champions
Shaping
the future for rural Australia
edited by Keith Hyde
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RIRDC's major publication documenting the experience of thirty outstanding Australians who, through their business enterprise, vision and perseverance, are making a significant contribution to the welfare and economic growth of rural and regional Australia. Each chapter is presentedf as a separate html file which you can view, download and print.
Craig-Au-Doo Rambutans
Jim and Bev Driscol started the development of their rambutan orchard at Humpty Doo, some 25 kilometres to the south of Darwin, in the Northern Territory (NT), about ten years ago. They market their produce under the name Craig-Au-Doo Rambutans.
Originally from a farm background, they moved to Darwin from Papua New Guinea in the early 1970s and to their five-acre block at Humpty Doo in 1980. The rural lifestyle, a new school with classes through to year 12 for their two children, and the opportunity to develop a source of supplementary income attracted them to Humpty Doo.
Their initial priority was
to develop a new home, clear their bush block, develop a small orchard
of tropical tree species, and settle into their new community. In the early
1980s, Darwin and the hinterland were still recovering from Cyclone Tracy
which devastated Darwin on Christmas Eve, 1974.
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Left: Jim Driscol inspects his maturing rambutan crop at Humpty Doo, just south of Darwin in the Northern Territory. |
Many former Darwin residents had moved to rural residential blocks in the hinterland. The introduction of self-government for the NT in 1978 had also resulted in a renewed pioneering spirit and enthusiasm for development.
Jim ’s interest in rambutan as a possible crop, with realistic income potential, started to crystallise during the latter 1980s. The demand for pangola grass hay for horses, to which he had originally planted his small block, started to wane as others in the region developed their own supplies. He was interested in mangoes, which grow well in the Darwin region, but was concerned about the large commercial plantings in Queensland and the NT and his long-term, competitive position as a small grower. Besides that, Jim did not want to be just another grower in a large industry —“another pea in a pod ”— he was looking for something special in which he could be competitive and profitable as a specialist grower.
Rambutans offered that opportunity. He noted that they grew well and produced good crops of attractive fruit in the Humpty Doo region.
They also tasted good, would be difficult to mechanise for large-scale production, and there were relatively few trees being planted. An initial financial analysis for a small, three-acre orchard also looked attractive. They purchased 12 trees to trial several potential varieties and commenced their inquiries into rambutans.
One of Jim’s first calls was to the Berrimah Research Station of the NT Department of Primary Industry and Fisheries where he received Jim Driscol inspects his maturing rambutan crop at Humpty Doo, just south of Darwin in the Northern Territory. . 66 |Thirty Australian Champions considerable assistance and moral support from Dr TK Lim, a Malaysian tropical tree crop specialist, and Mr Yan Diczbalis, the regional horticultural industry adviser (TK Lim now works with the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service in Canberra and Yan Diczbalis with Queensland Department of Primary Industries at South Johnston). However, at that time, relatively little was known about growing rambutans under plantation conditions in the NT. Jim now considers that he learnt a lot from an early visit to rambutan growers in North Queensland during an information-exchange field day.
Getting Started
The initial three acres of grafted trees from accredited nurseries were planted in January 1991.
Although they flowered and set some fruit within two years, Jim removed all the fruit for the first three years so as not to stunt the growth of the trees. The first crops of about three tonnes of mature fruit were produced in the fourth and fifth years when the trees were two to two-and-a-half metres tall.
However, birds were a significant challenge in the early years. “The netting went up after we got sick and tired of seeing all the birds flying away with the rambutans, explains Jim. “Bev will dispute some of the detailed information I ’m giving you, but I ’d say it has been under netting for three crops. The birds used to fly off with 3. 8 to 4. 2 tonne of fruit from a crop."
Netting the orchard, some five metres above the ground, proved to be a major challenge for the Discol family. “The main problem is that the net supplier really must supply you with the information on how many meshes per structured mesh, and what length do you cut the mesh. They couldn ’t explain to me what I ’m trying to explain to you. If you put it up too long, it will be too baggy, and because the durability of the netting is in its tension — you ’ve got to take the wave out of it during a storm — all that kinetic energy or whatever it may be — all that energy transfers down the guy rope to your ground support. Once your ground support moves and lets the water in round the concrete, it is gone, it ’s over.
Champion Qualities
- High-value product for a small farm
- Compatible with desired lifestyle
- Focus on quality
- Market chain development
- Focus on business management
- Collaboration in regional research
“Our initial attempts
to net the orchard were knocked around by storms, so there was a fair bit
of trial and error. It was early days for us. The information may well
have been out there, but we couldn ’t nail it down. The supplier of the
net wouldn ’t even have a bar of erection. He wouldn ’t put anything up.
There ’s the net, there you go."
Controlling Termites
Termites have been a big problem for horticultural tree crop growers in the Top End of the NT. Jim considers that the control of termites in orchards is going to get more difficult when Myrex (an insecticide)is taken off the approved list in 2001.
The CSIRO is working on another approach using 5 or 20-litre drums filled with termite sticks and with a hole in the bottom. The drum has a removable portion or main lid to view the ‘white ant ’sticks or paper, and when termite activity is detected, the sticks are fully immersed in Myrant which the termites carry back to their nests. “This method of control seems to be working, but it ’s ongoing, says Jim. “We have to be constantly diligent.”
Organic Production
From the very early stage of building up the orchard, Jim developed organically sound techniques to increased organic matter under his rambutan trees by trucking in chicken or cow manure and by raking in leaves from the mango orchard to mulch down underneath the trees.
“We even put small worm farms
in the gaps between each tree, says Jim. “They suggested that during the
wet season these worms would take off into the scrub. ”However, as it turned
out, it was for a different reason that this initiative had to be
abandoned. “The government analyses indicated high levels of chlorine in
the worm tea — which is the by--product of the worms passing through the
beds. Rambutans don ’t like any chlorine whatsoever, so the worm farms
were removed."
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Left: Rambutan fruit mature to a bright red which is attractive to the restaurant market. |
The Annual Work Cycle
Like most other tree crops, the annual work pattern is consistent. To be early in the marketplace, which is where most growers like to be, pruning must commence immediately after the harvest is completed. As with citrus, rambutans like a light trim every year to remove any of the working ends where the fruit have been harvested.
“However, we have to be really diligent and go from selected tree to selected tree because the rambutan suffers from what is generally termed as a ‘die back ’, says Jim. “If we prune or cut or do other structural work with a tree where the nutritional influences aren ’t moving in the tree, then that particular limb may die right back.
“What we do first, immediately after harvest in January or February, is fit an aluminium rack with a four or five-metre pruning pole to the Landcruiser, and we trim the top of the tree to within a metre- and-a-half of the net. With the constant fertilising of the tree during the year, it will grow back. Then we prune the sides of the trees for tractor access and to let light into the trees. We prune the eastern side of each tree in the whole orchard in one season and then the western side of each tree of the whole orchard in the next season, so it doesn ’t interfere with our crop production. In such a small orchard, we really have to maximise our return."
Monitoring
Jim takes leaf and soil samples from his trees on a weekly basis during the year and applies fertiliser through the irrigation system. It is a constant series of checks and balances for rambutan, which feed from the top 50 centimetres of the soil profile. The routine is only suspended for a couple of weeks over cropping and at flowering time, mainly because of the big, heavy wets.
“Rambutan ’s low requirement for phosphate has only become evident in the last couple of seasons, Jim says. “The advisers in the Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries, who do a good job, have the theory that we need a basic NPK [nitrogen:phosphorus:potassium ] base fertiliser of 10:10:10, which is not the case today.
“We have joined a group of 15 rambutan growers and the Department to monitor the nutrition of our trees. Sampling will be done five or six times per year for the next three years at least, and we will be comparing fertiliser injection against the old, granula fertilising methods. We log all our applications, so that we can compare our production with the production of other farmers use a general NPK base fertiliser."
The baseline guidelines for rambutan in the NT were provided by Dr TK Lim who produced a booklet ‘Watering and Nutritional Requirements of the Rambutan in the NT’. “It is our guide, and it is very good, but it ’s a living document and it has to be added to. We are on a learning curve and it ’s a big loss to the NT with TK now living in Canberra ” laments Jim.
Rambutan flowering can be initiated at any time during the year. “It can be because of a cold snap or because it stays really warm,” Jim explains. “You can influence it by droughting — almost anything works. Early May, May/June. There are flowers coming out now in August. You can have fruit maturing and flowers right alongside just emerging.
With the heat and the constant fertilising, you can have a pedicel emerge, and it won ’t open for up two months. We don ’t know enough about the crop in this environment to control flowering and fruit set."
Lifestyle
Lifestyle was important to Jim and his family. They want to be able to get away from the orchard during the year.
“I have set up the orchard so that we can get away whenever we like, with the exception of harvest time, ”says Jim. “It ’s just that I might have to do some catch-up work when I come back. The crucial thing is to keep an eye on caterpillars that eat the foliage because with the tree in the Northern Territory cropping every season, we really don ’t want it to have any setbacks. My game plan for a small orchard is to harvest a hundred kilos per tree, giving a maximum yield out of my 1. 1-hectare, or three-acre, orchard, so I really want that canopy in a good state of repair after it has been working really hard to produce that pre-season crop.
“Another thing to mention is the lateral irrigation lines can suffer root strangulation, if I don ’t attack a section of trees at a time and replace those lateral lines. Now we know exactly what is going on, we just go along and replace sections in the orchard. It reduces the workload. Finally, the net requires regular maintenance.
“We try to get away at school holiday times,” continues Jim. “We don’t want to be slaves to the orchard. There ’s a window of enjoyment there. You’ve really got to get your management in place so you can enjoy the breaks.
Marketing the Crop
The Driscols and number of other NT growers have joined the Far North Queensland Growers in an Australian rambutan marketing group.
The production season in North Queensland complements the NT season. “We ’re tapering off in late February when they ’re just starting. ”The Queensland growers had established a quality standard and marketing through Martin Walker ’s World Marketing Group. “We had made contact and had started working together, ”says Jim, “so we took up their offer of joining the marketing group when it came."
The group has stringent procedures to maintain its quality standard. A sticker identifying each grower goes on each punnet in the five-kilogram punnet pack of six, 850-gram punnets. If an accredited agent is not happy with the product, then the agent will contact Martin Walker who, in turn, will contact the representative group who works with the grower to resolve the problem.
There are also checks and balances within the. shed. One or two punnets from each 10 to 15 punnet packs — not punnets, but punnet packs — are emptied and checked. That box will be marked as checked. There is a minimum fruit size, 35 grams and up, for punnet packs. Fruit of less than 35 grams go to another type of market. Colour and size are important, as is a minimum of defects.
“In just one season, our sales through the marketing group have lifted our returns by 28 to 30 per cent. But we say that tongue-in-cheek, ”says Jim. “Not all of our production is sold through the marketing group, so there is a series of checks and balances. We still market some of our production in trays. The marketplace is still in a bit of a quandary about punnets and wasn ’t accepting some of them. Until punnets become accepted across the board, I think we still have to market some of our product in the 2. 5-kilo trays."
About 45 tonnes of the NT crop is marketed in Sydney, Melbourne and, to lesser extent, Adelaide. Perth has a reasonable market and takes five to six tonnes from the NT each year.
The NT rambutan crop is transported by air- freight. “The roads are just too great a distance. I don ’t think, no matter how much you modernise your roads or the transport — it ’s just too far.
Future Plans
Jim believes that if NT growers can cooperate to pack to the standard set through the marketing group, and if they can accept a greater exchange of information through the farm visits, then there is a real opportunity to increase rambutan production in the NT from the current 80 tonnes up to about 150 tonnes.
“If Far North Queensland can also boost their production, and if we can emulate what is happening with lychee production to market offshore once the domestic price drops, then we can continue to expand our access to customers with a better product, and the industry will grow from there. I don ’t see us getting up to the 3, 000 tonne mark, but while you live, you hope."
Jim accepts that the price he currently receives is going to come down, so he is working to reduce his costs by mechanising the packing shed in order to spend less time in there, and be is readily himself to accept the lower price. “Newer products are also coming on the market all the time. There ’s something else coming out now, the ‘rombun ’, which is sort of in the same family, same type of fruit — so we need to develop our market so we can meet any new competition,” he says.
Handling and grading are particularly important in quality control. The Group requirements for colour, size and maturity are stringently defined. “Everybody goes through a small, induction-type course and other packing sheds. Whoever starts to pick first usually broadcasts that news and those that aren ’t sure, or are a little bit tentative can go to other sheds and help out, ”explains Jim. “It ’s a bit laborious but it ’s on-the-spot hand grading and good training.
“I don ’t think a machine can ever replace the exactness of grading by hand, but if we ’re going to get to the stage where we employ labour and start paying wages to do the picking and stalking — we invariably keep the family on the quality side like the packing — then we will have to have mechanisation to keep up with the production to make it viable."
Jim has purchased an adjoining small farm and is developing another five acres of rambutan. The grafted stocks come from his initial, local NT nursery suppliers. About 40 varieties of rambutan were made available in Queensland in the early 1970s, but this number had been reduced to approximately 16 varieties when commercial plantings commenced in the NT in the early 1980s.
“Knowing all we know about the rambutan now, ” remarks Jim, “if we put another 200 trees on that back block, I ’d say they ’ll be thriving after three years and ready for production.
“It all goes hand in hand with the backup we ’ve received from the Department. CSIRO is also revamping and will be putting more input into the NT. It ’s full steam ahead, for NT agriculture."
The mango industry has developed an after-market reporting system that comes back via a computer system and the Northern Territory Rambutan Growers Group will be using that system this year for the first time. “As our fruit ’s unpacked in the market, we will see it as they see it. If there ’s a problem, there it is in front of you. It ’s exactly what we need, ”enthuses Jim. “You know where the problem is within the system, the transportation, the number of times it has been handled, whose cool rooms it has been sent to etc. —you don ’t have to wait until the end of the season in order to sort it out.
”The aim is to have NT produce monitored at every point along the market chain and to address problems if and when they arise.
“The airlines cooperate as much as they can, but no system is foolproof. They have to be air-freighted and there are only two airlines."
Jim considers the lack of larger grower interest in rambutans as a good thing for smaller producers like his family. “The larger growers consider rambutans to be too labour-intensive. They won ’t get any more laborious than bananas or mangoes seem to be, but they do need more personalised care. With the new management requirements that have to be put in place now, and new spraying measures and the like, rambutans are looking good. If we can keep the quality in place, it ’s a good little venture for a small farm and a family. It has a good return for good management."
Possible Threats
Amongst the possible threats to his venture, Jim lists new insect pests, mismanagement, and a reduction in the price of beer which would reduce his incentive to leave the shade of his verandah.
“Mismanagement, mixing chemicals, maybe a few more bugs coming sideways from the increasing production of Asian fruit and vegetables in our area. Maybe they ’ve got some cousins that might come in. Mainly just the caterpillar in the enclosed area under the net. We don ’t have enough predators eating the caterpillars. Thrips have been known to attack them, and there are a few bugs there that I haven ’t touched on. But once again, if you ’ve got nothing to do, just go for a walk in the orchard and ten minutes later you ’ll find it."
The increasing residential development in the area is considered a problem. It is being addressed through the Litchfield land-use plan and recommendations that are being handed down for newer areas to be broken up. Jim considers that development is a two-way street. “When the land- use plan was being formulated, all groups were urged to attend — the greenies, , the meanies, the marijuana farmers, the horticulturalists, the ratbags — everyone that wanted to have a whinge, , ”he says.
“Everyone got together and I found that, after a while, after everyone had had their initial say and had put their grievances forward, once everyone had accepted the fact that they all had input, they all lived here, the friction died away and everyone concentrated on putting together a document that suited everyone. I think we ’ve come a long way."
The local rural show was used to show the NT Horticultural Association viewpoint. “A complete breakdown was put to the public — exactly what ’s coming out of the spray tank, why it comes out, when it comes out, what it ’s comparable to, what you ’re already using in the household etc. There are a lot of fears out there. Residue testing was done on various crops, at various points, in various marketplaces around Australia, and when they were turning up favourably, they put a lot of fears to bed.
There are some ‘boofheads ’out there as farmers, but there are also some boofheads out there as greenies and horse people, ”Jim states. “Once everybody had. their say, and something conclusive came out of it — that no--one was really going out of their way to upset the others — then most people were pacified. .
Left: Ripe rambutan
The Industry ’s Standing
Significant expansion of horticultural development in the Darwin hinterlands has boosted grower confidence and boosted resources. Horticulture is more common now than when Jim Driscol initiated this venture.
“One of the major things, I would say, is that the Northern Territory Horticultural Association has an Executive Officer who has formed all these little umbrella groups now like the Rambutan Growers, ”explains Jim. “We ’ve got a representative who does a good job. The rambutan growers are represented, as is the mango growers ’group.
Everyone is represented [in the local association ], everyone has a central point to get information, to raise their concerns, to report any new bugs or pests that come along, to coordinate the after- market reporting systems we now have, and also just to educate ourselves in all sorts of areas where there are problems and concerns. And it ’s paying dividends for the industry. That ’s where government comes in as well. We need extension officers — we ’re always going to need more extension officers — but I think the mango industry is a bit of a crossroad too, because it ’s about to double, so they ’ve really got to address some things there. Challenge the market development. We can sneak along after the mangoes and after other groups looking for quality control and we can pass it all on.
Even with all the rambutans in the ground now and the possibility of reaching a market threshold at some stage, Jim is optimistic. “I ’m no expert to answer that, but we haven ’t really accessed the supermarkets yet, so I ’d say we ’re doing all right.
If we can use lychees, which
are currently at the 3, 000 tonne mark, as a guide, some of their backing
and funding seems to be going sideways and they ’re going offshore. Maybe
that ’s a benchmark for the rambutan as well because it ’s sort of the
same family, or appearance. I think the rambutan ’s getting taken up pretty
well. I think it has got a long way to go. We ’re putting money into it,
and money ’s hard to come by at this address, I can tell you!”.
