Bhutan mandarins
From the September 2008 edition of Agriculture Today.
Australians will turn increasingly to convenience fruits such as mandarins for their citrus needs in the future.
This is the prediction of NSW Department of Primary Industries (DPI) industry leader for citrus, Sandra Hardy, who is part of an Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR) project assisting the Kingdom of Bhutan to improve its mandarin production.
Bhutan is at the eastern end of the Himalayas and is bordered to the south, east and west by India and to the north by China.
"This project is aiming at improving the mandarin production for both countries by identifying and implementing on-farm best management practices," said Ms Hardy, based at Gosford Horticultural Institute.
"We have just had the second visit from scientists of the Bhutan Department of Agriculture who are looking at all areas of citrus production and practices in Australia.
"We have developed a program specifically to cater to the interests of the Bhutan industry group.
"This visit to Gosford included sessions on postharvest handling of fruit and visits to local citrus orchards and a citrus packing facility.
"Much of the mandarin research conducted by NSW DPI takes place at our site at Dareton in the Sunraysia area, so the Bhutanese are part of the program.
"This is under the direction of research horticulturalist Graham Sanderson, who will be giving them some insight into variety assessment, plant propagation, canopy management and citrus nutrition.
"Bhutan has also asked for assistance in laboratory techniques for identifying postharvest diseases of fruit, which Shane Hetherington at the NSW DPI Orange Agricultural Institute is providing.
"Their interest is specific to mandarins, as it is their only commercial citrus variety."
Mandarins are Bhutan’s biggest export crop and it has markets in Pakistan and Bangladesh.
"The NSW citrus industry produced 8000 tonnes of mandarins in 2006, which was eight per cent of Australian production and we are looking at increasing domestic and export market opportunities.
"Worldwide there is increasing demand for mandarins because of their convenience.
"Varieties should be easy to peel and the ultimate goal is a sweet, juicy seedless variety."
NSW DPI is currently evaluating 22 different varieties of mandarins.
"The aim of this work is to identify new mandarin varieties suitable for the NSW and Australian industries," Ms Hardy said.
Ms Hardy said the ACIAR project would also contribute to the preparation of a best practice growing manual for mandarins for NSW and Australia.
Contact Sandra Hardy, Gosford, (02) 4348 1916, sandra.hardy@dpi.nsw.gov.au
