Banana and blueberry farmer Gary Atwal with NSW DPI district horticulturist Greig Ireland at Woolgoolga.

A quiet, 'blue revolution' is taking place in the hills north of Coffs Harbour.

Blueberries are replacing bananas on the picturesque slopes as growers chase better returns in the north coast’s fastest growing horticultural industry.

The 'revolution' is being led by the second and third generation of Indian Seikh pioneers, whose years of hard work establishing banana farms in the 1960s, 70s and 80s underpins the vibrant coastal community of Woolgoolga.

Typical of the new breed switching to blueberries is Gary Atwal - whose grandfather Jagoo and father Cess came to Australia in the 1930s and 1950s (respectively) working as cane-cutters and leasing then buying banana land - and who nowfarms with brothers George and Harvey.

The Atwals diversified into blueberries when bananas slumped in the late 1990s, progressively planting out six hectares on their 80 hectare property.

'Friends of ours had been working at the large Blueberry Farms Australia property up the road towards Grafton,' he said.

'We could see they were going okay so we decided to give blueberries a go,' he said.

'The costs of establishment are high with orchard netting and irrigation required.

'And then there's the labourc ost at picking time. We employ 10 to 15 people for three months in the peak harvesting season.

'But so far it has definitely been a good move for us,' he said.

Good enough that others have followed and 32 growers have now joined the local packing and marketing group called Oz Berries.

'Twenty three of the member growers are now producing a crop and for the last six months of 2005 the group grossed $4 million,' Gary said.

'We are actively encouraging any local growers - they don't have to be from the Seikh community – to join the Oz Berries marketing group.

'There a big advantages in packing and marketing together: Oz Berries can offer customers long-lines of quality fruit throughout a large part of the year which means we can be price setters rather than price takers.

'We learnt that from our experience with bananas,' he said.

NSW DPI district horticulturist Greig Ireland, who is based at Coffs Harbour, said growing blueberries required a high level of management expertise.

'They are a very demanding crop, suited only to growers who are prepared to monitor things daily, and act quickly to meet crop needs.'

He said the north coast industry had grown rapidly to be worth more than $20 million, based around one very large grower Blueberry Farms Australia and 20 to 30 smaller producers.

'Demand for blueberries around the world is strong based on the health benefits of the fruit, particularly the high levels of anti-oxidants."

Contact: Greig Ireland, NSW DPI, Coffs Harbour, (02) 6650 3111.

- PHIL BEVAN

This story appears in Agriculture Today.