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Rural Industries Research & Development Corporation
Bitter Melon in Australia by Dr Wendy Morgan and Professor David Midmore
Plant Sciences Group, Central Queensland University, Rockhampton Qld 4702
November 2002
RIRDC Publication No 02/134 RIRDC Project No UCQ-10A
In order to strengthen the industry in Australia, from
1999 to 2001 a series of trials were established to identify national production
capability, and supply and productivity issues for supply chain development
of domestic and future export markets. This report presents the outcomes
of those trials, and a brief review of relevant literature and market situations.
Bitter melon is harvested at a physiologically
immature stage, before the true onset of ripening. It is important, if
fruit is to be transported overland (taking from 1-5 days from origin to
market place), that fruit be selected that have not started the physiological
process of ripening, for they will produce ethylene that hastens ripening
of adjacent stored fruit.
Yields of around 30 t/ha in the NT, and 25-80 t/ha in northern NSW are in line with reported yields overseas. Hybrid varieties did not out-yield OP varieties, but tended to have more fruit set and lower individual fruit weight. This inverse relationship was evident in Queensland too. The height at which fruit set in NT may have been responsible for the recorded individual fruit weights of hybrids not reaching their claimed size, but effects of planting density may also have been involved in this anomaly.
A period of about three weeks from fruit set to first harvest was evident in Queensland (and reported for the Philippines), and earliest harvest in NT was 56 days after sowing pre-germinated seed, in line with the 60 days after sowing in Rockhampton (Qld).
Premature maturity (ie before fruit reaches a marketable size generally considered to be 18-22 cm long) occurred more frequently in OP than hybrid varieties in NT. The main harvest peak in NT was 11-12 weeks after planting, which coincided with the flush of flowering and fruit set on primary lateral branches. Trellising to spread the canopy and to contain growth to primary and secondary branches is important for bitter melon production, and a small trial at Rockhampton showed that overhead trellising was superior to vertical (fence) trellising. The former made for easier harvest (fruit were more visible), less fruit blemish and better fruit set and aeration for diminished disease outbreak.
Based on the trials reported here, the recommended cultivars for NT are Moonlight, Baizin, Long Type and the white-fruit cultivar Moon Beauty (although market acceptance of this cultivar is uncertain), and for northern NSW Baizin and Moon Beauty.
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