Heat Drought and Flood

How fruit and veg are weathering the nation's disasters. Fresh produce expert John Baker reports.

Heatwave conditions across Victoria and South Australia, floods in far north Queensland and ongoing drought in the Murray-Darling basin are all adversely affecting the supply of fresh fruits and vegetables.

The heatwave in late January/early February, which led to the tragic fires in Victoria, has affected the supply and quality of a range of vegetables and fruits. Werribee, near Melbourne, is a major source of salad and other green vegetables during the summer months. Lettuce, broccoli, celery and cucumbers are just some of the vegetables that are now a lot more expensive because crops have been lost or the quality downgraded as a result of the extreme temperatures.

Leading vegetable agronomist Mike Titley says normal supplies are unlikely to resume before May, when harvest commences in Queensland. In the meantime,expect to rinse vegetables from Victoria to remove ash from the fires, he says.

Victoria is also the main source of berries at this time of the year. Many berry crops have literally cooked in the field or sunburn has made the fruit unmarketable. Limited production will continue from other areas, and strawberry supplies should be back to normal in July, when Queensland production commences.

The new season apple and pear harvest started in early February, with significant losses from sunburn in the pear and apple crops in Victoria and South Australia. Fortunately, the apple crops in other states are reported to be of very good quality, so all the favourite varieties are becoming progressively available.

Heavy rain and floods in Queensland have had two effects. First, it has been too wet to harvest many of the tropical fruit crops, such as bananas,papayas, mangoes and rambutan. Second,the main roads out of the far north have been blocked and produce could not be trucked to southern markets, explaining the big increase in retail prices for these fruits.

Fortunately, by mid February the situation had improved and supplies were returning to normal. In the Murray-Darling basin farmers are still confronted by drought, as well as the unseasonal heat. For example,many citrus growers in the South Australian Riverland and Victorian Sunraysia (based on Mildura) have found it uneconomic to continue irrigating Valencia oranges and many plantings have been abandoned. This is resulting in a shortage of both fresh fruit and oranges for juicing. In addition,new season Navel oranges stopped growing in the heatwave and there is a question about whether fruit size will recover by harvest time in May.

Mildura and Robinvale are home to more than 80 per cent of Australia's table grapes and the harvest is now in full swing. While some crops are showing signs of heat stress and damage, there are good volumes of good quality fruit available.