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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.
Kuradui Tropical Fruits
Many North Queensland farms are restricted by the adverse weather conditions that mark the tropics. A wet year and the absence of blue skies for months on end can postpone or restrict harvest. According to Kuradui's manager, Pedro O'Connor, patience and optimism are necessities."The wet weather does throw another dimension into farming in the tropics,"he says, "and you just need to think,'okay, this will work, it was just one wet year.' But we've had two of those wet years in a row and that's why a lot of agricultural businesses up here are on their haunches."
Background
The Kuradui Estate is situated 15 kilometres from Innisfail in Far North Queensland. The farm lies on very rich, volcanic soil, with rainfall averaging between four and five metres per year. The name'Kuradui'comes from the Tulli language, and is an old plantation name from New Britain which has been maintained by the property's Sydney-based owner, Richard Uechtritz. For over four years now, Pedro and his wife, Marg, have been the farm managers.
The Kuradui crop comprises 700 acres of improved pasture with beef cattle production;50 acres of exotic tropical fruit trees, with the purple mangosteen being the predominant crop of over 1, 000 trees — the majority of which are ten years of age;200 durians;350 purple star apple or South American caimito trees;305 white, seedless pomelo trees;250 abiu trees, which are Amazonian;180 rambutan trees;5, 000 taro plants;and 2, 000 yellow pawpaw trees.
Before joining Kuradui, Pedro had worked as a pathology lab technician for 12 years. Faced with a welcome long-service leave in 1989, he relocated his home to a five-acre block in Babinda, where he began growing tropical fruit on a small scale. Pedro knew some medicos who bought the 200-acre farm immediately next door, and were interested in growing mangosteens and having Pedro manage the farm for them.
This farm was an existing
sugar cane farm, and with the cash flow from sugar, Pedro ploughed out
the existing crop and set up windbreaks. "We were very heavily into windbreaking,"
says Pedro. "We've got a reputation for advocating the advantages of them
in such a cyclone-prone area. Basically we look upon them as a form of
insurance in the event of a 'big blow'. Anyone who doesn't establish windbreaks
in a cyclone area is being foolish." As the cane was ploughed out over
a five-year period, he gradually planted mangosteens.
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Left: Pedro O'Connor
inspects his developing
mangosteen crop at Innisfail, North Queensland. |
Champion Qualities
- Industry choice limited by weather
- Existing property asset
- Focus on value adding and marketing
- Sound business management
- Collaborative research and development
While managing the mangosteen
enterprise, Pedro was approached by Richard Uechtritz to manage Kuradui.
Pedro explains the impetus behind the eventual move: “I had grown mangosteens
for six years, and knew I wouldn't be picking for about another four seasons.
With just about any other fruit tree I would have already been at the harvesting
and marketing stage. So I was really looking forward to getting to that
next stage, and when Richard came along, I thought, 'here's my opportunity
to get ahead three or four years'.”
The Kuradui Plantation
Kuradui was originally purchased by Richard in 1988, with the first plantings occurring in the following year. The original plant material was sourced from local nurseries, particularly Exotic Groves and Zappala Tropicals who, according to Pedro O'Connor, have been doing the foremost work on durian for over a decade. An area of ten acres was planted with mangosteen and interplanted with abiu. The logic behind this stems from the fact that it would be at least ten years until the mangosteens brought back a return, and until that time, the abiu would provide some cash flow, as they bear after three years.
“That logic for mixed cropping was carried on throughout the rest of the orchard and it has led to some pretty major headaches for us,"Pedro says. "The durian and the star apple were planted in the same way, with the intention that the durian would prove the higher-value crop. But within one irrigation block we might have two crops with completely different feeding cycles, different nutrient requirements, different water requirements, they might flower at different times. With six different crops, the logistics can be a nightmare."
The material for the original mangosteen in Babinda was sourced from Malaysia. A nursery was contracted to grow the plants for two years after leaving quarantine. The local Department of Primary Industries lent some advice on setting up the farm, which was then the biggest mangosteen planting in Australia. "It was a bit of a guess as to the optimum spacing and whether the ground we were using was 100 per cent suitable," Pedro says."In hindsight, I'd plant somewhere else — somewhere with better drainage."
The threat of cyclones in North Queensland is very real, and can reduce a farm built up over ten years to ruin in a matter of hours. However, as brutal as it sounds, those who do make it through a cyclone can find themselves confronted with a. window of opportunity."If you have windbreaks," Pedro says, "It makes the possibility of making it through that much higher. It's the best form of insurance you can have. Because it's long-term insurance, unfortunately a lot of people don't invest their time or money in it. But the people I was working for at the mangosteen farm had the vision, they could see the benefit. It was expensive, but if you look at it in terms of time and actual capital outlay to grow that many trees, you will not find a better laid-out farm."
Mangosteen
Pedro O'Connor keeps his mangosteen trees in pots for two years before planting. In the paddock, it is essential that juvenile trees are shaded. "If they're not shaded, they'll die," he says, "that's guaranteed.
I've killed a number to find out. "These plants also have an incredibly sensitive root system, and disturbance usually destroys them. Transplanting is also disastrous. After about nine years, they only have a small amount of fruit on the trees, and at 12 years of age, the tree bears commercial fruit. "You have to be patient and have deep pockets," he says, "but they are low maintenance trees. Insects aren't really a problem. The fertiliser requirements are low. Generally, the tree has a low dollar input."
Yet there is a high dollar return. Often a grower will sell a five-kilogram tray for $130 per tray. "Anyone who knows mangosteens values their taste," says Pedro. "They're sensational. The prices are quite high here. But it's all supply and demand. In Malaysia you'd buy a Woolworth's bag-full for about one dollar. Obviously there's only a small percentage of people here who can afford them, usually people with a high expendable income, for whom price is not an issue because they just love the fruit. I've known clients who say, 'No matter what time of year you see them, regardless of the price, if you see a tray of mangosteens you buy them.' Once you get them up and running, mangosteens can be a cash cow."
Alternative Approaches
One of the major issues facing Pedro O'Connor was Kuradui's short-term viability. Most growers of tropical fruit consider their fruit trees to be their secondary crop, and rely on sugar cane or another cash crop, with the view of eventually phasing out the primary crop. "We make a reasonable return from the cattle," Pedro says, "and Kuradui's owner has had sufficient alternative income to sustain the farm throughout its juvenile stage."
If Pedro was to start again
with Kuradui, first he would change the way in which the various crops
were planted ."We have good soils on hills with drainage, but we still
have springs coming up," says Pedro."They might be at the top of a hill
or halfway up, and we're finding out in wetter years that the trees are
getting waterlogged. The earlier plantings did not take the springs into
consideration, but I certainly wouldn't point the finger at anyone for
overlooking it. Often it takes time to learn about the adverse habits of
farms. And the weather over the last three years has been abnormal. Second,
I'd revisit the in-field spacing of the plants. I would be tending towards
a higher density per hectare planting rate. I think we need a paradigm
shift away from growing big trees on a wide spacing and bringing those
trees closer to the ground at a closer spacing. Every other industry has
done it and we now need to learn from their experience.
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Left: Juvenile mangosteen
require shade but eventually grow into quite large heavily foliaged trees. |
“And finally, I would change my species. I would grow only mangosteen, rambutan and taro. They would be the only crops with which I would persevere. Mangosteens love this climate, and I think they have a great future, once the numbers start getting to the market. So does rambutan. Taro also grows really well here and they have a good dollar return. At the moment you'd get up to a yearly fluctuation of about $2 to $5 per kilo box. And you'd take about 20 tonnes off one acre of ground — that's $30, 000 from one acre of taro. But one major drawback is the incredible'taro itch' from the plant's sap."
Kuradui has always employed back-packers during harvest time. Pedro says that he usually only places local people in full-time positions, because the harvesting work can be spasmodic and there usually isn't the number of people available.
The Exotic Tropical Fruit Industry
Wanting to get as involved with the industry as possible, Pedro O'Connor has spent time on various boards and committees. He is currently the President of the Tropical Exotics Local Producer Association, as well as the treasurer of his marketing group. "I wanted to get involved to help open it up more and get people talking and sharing knowledge," he says. "Thankfully that happened in this industry. Most of the people are a bit younger and aren't blinkered in their vision, or think 'the way I'm doing it is the only way, or my dad taught me this way'. ”
Below: The high value
mangosteen fruit develop within the plant canopy and must be picked by
hand.
The tropical fruit industry in North Queensland is relatively small. Rambutan tree numbers are around 22,000 in the ground. Mangosteens are estimated to be about 15, 000 and Pedro estimates that durian may be only 8,000 trees.
In future seasons, an emphasis will be on keeping the crop area small and the trees smaller. "Most trees will grow huge if you allow them, "Pedro says." 've got a mate with a ten-year-old mango tree with a huge trunk but it's only three metres high. You've got to prune them hard. There's no money in growing leaves. And our climate here makes that hard. Our vegetative growth can kill us. Everything grows so well, but that's sometimes to our disadvantage because unless you get a dry or a very cold winter, the trees often just grow leaf and not flower. So you've got to keep them down with machinery — short back and sides."
Advice for Newcomers
When it comes to advice for newcomers, Pedro suggests doing the homework first. "Choice of land is the most critical decision, "he says,"then the crop selection. If you already have a piece of land, then you've got to grow the crop which will best suit that piece of land. If you don't have the land, then obviously you've got to look for the best crop and for that you need to look at the market. Don't be production driven, be market driven. Just because a crop will grow on your block of land doesn't mean you should grow it. You may just go broke in the meantime;that's the biggest downfall. Talk to your immediate neighbour about the history and characteristics of your farm. They're probably the best person to get advice from, whether they've had experience with growing your crop or not. Talk to them about empirical things like rainfall, drainage, temperatures and winds.
“The history of the property is vital. What was there before, any residue problems that your plants are going to pick up. If that land has been flogged with Dieldrin, or other chemicals with long half-lives, then forget it. The soil is your bank and what you're really paying for is that top six inches of ground. That's where you're going to be doing most of your growing. What the past practices have been will determine your success in the first five years."
He also believes that the existing trees are crucially important. A good windbreak in North Queensland is priceless. "A good windbreak of about ten metres high is going to take you a lot of years and money to establish," he says,"If it's there, you've got to look at it being a definite asset to the property."
Another element Pedro attributes to any horticultural success is the thought and money invested in the right varieties."If you're not going to invest in the best variety then don't buy the tree," he says, "and if you have to pay twice as much, then buy it. In the scheme of things, a tree might initially cost you $20, but if it's the wrong variety and you find that out in five-years time, then what's the cost?If you pay $50 to begin with, you might only plant half as many but you have the best tree. Quality will always sell. If you've got a passion for quality, then you're on the right track. If you're prepared to sell rubbish, then don't even contemplate starting in a niche crop."
Marketing
Kuradui markets some of its
fruit through the Far Northern Queensland Rambutan Marketing Group. The
group consists of forty growers, all of whom use the same coordinator.
There are also eight Northern Territory growers in the group, which
allows the operation to extend its season.
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Left: Mangosteen is regarded as'the premium fruit' in Asia and also attracts premium prices in Australian markets. |
The marketing group does not yet market mangosteens, but when production increases, the same coordinator will pick up the fruit under a group name. "I have no doubt that's the way of the future,"says Pedro. "Farmers are going to have to get together and cooperate with packing and quality controls. We need complete traceability. And there are about 100 different steps between growing and marketing and I don't think any grower could do it 100 per cent. Team work is important. I suppose the ultimate with a niche industry would be to have every fruit going through the one coordinator. He could place the fruit on any of the markets knowing exactly what each town needs, and keep the price returns to growers at a maximum."
With the help of Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation, strategic plans have been developed for mangosteen, rambutan and durian. Each year the plan is re-visited and issues are addressed and progress noted. For Pedro, however, the main focus is on productivity. After ten years working and waiting on the mangosteens, he's ready for the rewards. "This year I put a fair bit of fruit on the tree and quite a bit of it fell off," he says, "and that is a real kick in the guts. I give it 110 per cent and failures frustrate me, but you have to learn to roll with it. There are never any guarantees."
