ASIAN VEGETABLE PRODUCERS HAVE THEIR SAY

David Gallacher, Central Queensland University, Rockhampton

Over 50 participants attended a successful Asian vegetables workshop organised by Central Queensland University (CQU) on 2 July, at the Queensland Fruit and Vegetable Growers (QFVG) offices, Brisbane markets. Almost half the participants were producers and a range of crops were represented. Other participants included seed companies, exporters, market analysts and both government and university departments. Many issues were raised and interest was generated for an ongoing development group.

The workshop began with presentations by representatives from QFVG, Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Australia (formerly DPIE), Queensland DPI, University of Queensland, CQU and Asian Markets Research. These representatives outlined how their organisations could become more involved with an Asian vegetables development group and services offered. David Midmore and David Gallacher outlined the work being done at CQU to consolidate the Asian vegetable industry nationally. It became clear throughout the morning that a substantial amount of assistance is available if a suitable development group could be formed. The group is needed to provide effective communication between government and industry.

The afternoon sessions were devoted to discussion of issues important to producers at the meeting.

Minor chemical registration
Most producers had experienced problems with the appropriate use of chemicals. One producer revealed that if he followed label directions, the maximum chemical residue levels of his produce would be substantially exceeded. Others did not know how to classify their produce and therefore which chemicals and rates they were legally allowed to use, despite attempting to get this information from government departments. The issue was fraught with confusion and frustration.

Assist us to get chemicals registered for Asian vegetables Please send the following details to: David Gallacher, Plant Sciences Group, CQU, Rockhampton, Qld. 4700 Tel: 07 4930 6583 Fax: 07 4930 9255 Name Address / telephone Crops produced Pests / diseases Product sold

Individually there is little that can be done on this issue, but as a group it is possible to approach the National Registration Authority. The rambutan industry was cited as an example of a minor industry that had successfully got chemicals registered. QFVG has offered to assist producers in this process (see box).

There is also room for the development of integrated pest management. One agent who supplies many leafy Asian vegetables to a supermarket chain through contract growers, indicated that disease was not a major problem for her producers. This group use open pollinated seed, traditional production practices, and produce in many locations on a small scale. Durnford Dart of Bamboo Australia described himself as 'accidentally organic' since bamboo has very few pests, but there were also a couple of organically certified producers present.

Market information
Noel Harvey of QFVG, and Nick Jackson of AFFA (formerly DPIE) described support in marketing that their organisations could offer a development group. Rob Fletcher from the University of Queensland outlined the DOOR (Do Our Own Research) Marketing program, which provides a set of market research guidelines for people interested in trying a new crop. Grant Vinning of Asian Markets Research finished the morning with a lively presentation that began with Women's Weekly recipes (highlighting the acceptance of many Asian vegetables), spanned niche export marketing and finished with a plea to observe and grasp the opportunities that are there.

The afternoon discussions focussed more on immediate issues. A number of producers specified the importance of going to your marketplace to observe who is selling, what they are selling, and who they are selling to. One producer travels to Sydney and Melbourne markets twice a year to do just that. Another producer commented that agents do not actively promote produce, they simply put it on display. Thus, a poorly selling product may still be in demand by restaurants that have not yet found a reliable source. Contact with your buyers is also important to help a producer maintain improvement in quality, supplying what the buyer wants.

Australian market reports mostly aggregate Asian vegetables so that individual crop records are not available. Flemington Market reports includes crops by bunch rather than unit weight, and the size of the bunch varies throughout the year. Workshop participants came up with a list of 14 Asian vegetables and assigned representatives to investigate obtaining individual volume and price information.

Help with market information is available through the various State government AgriInfonet offices. Jacquie Bodger of Queensland's office outlined the services they provide free to Queensland exporters or potential exporters. AgriInfonet supplies referrals, market data and competitive intelligence for a specific product to a specific market. They are a good place to begin looking for available information, or to link into interstate or international information from both government and private sources.

Availability of international market information varies with the country. Grant Vinning indicated that Asian vegetable market data from Japan and Taiwan is excellent and is reasonable from South Korea, but available data from Hong Kong, Singapore and Europe is scanty. Mr Vinning, author of a widely quoted RIRDC publication on Asian vegetable opportunities, has a strong reputation for supplying data from Asian markets.

Size of enterprise
A few producers were concern that their current lifestyle would be upset by an expansion of the industry. Earthcare Enterprises' partner Barry O'Connell has been successfully niche marketing a range of Asian vegetables for years, and is concerned particularly about the expanding acreage of bamboo for shoot production.

Niche marketing and value adding can safeguard for the future. Grant Vinning stated that the best form of value adding is to keep your product freshest for longest. Another approach is to collaborate with other producers so that a group of producers are providing for a single, larger market. Hayden Hodges, of the Queensland Department of Primary Industries, described how these alliances.

Seed quality
Concerns were raised about the quality of Asian Brassica seed being sold within Australia. One producer stated that seed grading and viability was poor compared to that in the US and suggested that Australians are being sold secondary material. A request was also made for work into disease resistance.

Most of the cucurbit seed in Australia is open pollinated and there appears to be little demand to change to hybrid varieties. Winor Woolhouse of Minara Seeds provides open pollinated seed for most Asian vegetables because her clients are not willing to pay higher prices for hybrid seed.

Mechanisation
Appropriate pre- and postharvest equipment is an issue for many of the non-leafy Asian vegetables. Labour costs for crops such as lotus and taro are very high and could be reduced with appropriate equipment. Competition is frequently with countries that have very low labour costs, which can therefore undercut Australian prices. Multihopper demonstration during lunch break.

Follow-up
Another meeting will be held on 20 August 1999 to formalise arrangements for a development group, and to follow up on issues that were discussed. By then, some progress is expected to have been made on chemical registration, and disaggregation of market data.

For further information, contact Dr David Gallacher on (07) 4930 6583.