Horticulture

HORTICULTURE

Horticulture Overview

The horticulture sector is made up of a very diverse range of fruit, vegetable, nursery, cut flowers and turf industries. This significant primary industries sector makes up 9% of total GVP and the combined horticulture value ranks as the third largest industry. The sector has grown by 16% from 2013-14 levels, which is attributed to increasing demand for NSW fresh produce both domestically and abroad. Key developing industries such as nuts and blueberries have contributed heavily to growth, while traditional NSW horticulture industries continue to provide stable support to the sector.

3 % yoy GVP
$1,442mest 5 % Contribution to
GVP growth

Nuts & Blueberries Key NSW growth
industries

NSW DPI partnered with Horticulture Innovation, CSIRO, and the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research to release six new Chinese citrus rootstocks in NSW to improve yield, fruit quality and tree size, and boost tolerance to different soil types, water availability and disease.

Production

In the period from 2013-14 to 2015-16, macadamia production increased 25% while almonds increased 65% on the back of strong international demand particularly from Asia.

Demand for blueberries has encouraged rapid industry expansion, with production increasing 96% between 2010-11 to 2015-16 and an industry worth $117m.

Citrus remains the largest single industry, with oranges the main contributor. Although production was up 14% in the two years to 2015-16, lower prices resulted in GVP falling by 7%. Industry restructure from juicing to fresh fruit, and an increase in other citrus fruit plantings (e.g. Mandarins), is indicative of producers seeking better returns.

The vegetable industry had a moderate increase in value of 3% between 2014-15 and 2015-16. This result followed a relatively subdued year prior where declines in value for a combination of the smaller vegetable industries were offset by gains in some of the larger vegetable industries.

GVP 2015-2016 ($m)^est

Exports

NSW horticulture exports grew at a rapid pace to reach $325 million, an increase of 41% over the five-year moving average. This growth has been steady and sustained since 2010-11. Asian markets are the major destination for NSW horticulture products, with 74% of all exports by value arriving in these markets.

Nuts are the major horticulture export making up 48% of total exports by value, with rising incomes and increasing awareness of the health benefits linked to nut consumption driving demand. Other significant exports included table grapes, plums, cherries and potatoes, which together made up 15% of all exports by value.

Horticulture Export By Region

Region	2016-17 Export Value	5yr Avg. Export Value
Asia	$241m	$155m
Oceania	$35m	$24m
Europe	$29m	$26m
North America	$21m	$24m
Africa & Sth. America	$2m	$1m

Region 2016-17 Export Value 5 Year Average Export Value

Download The Publication

Download the full publication which profiles the key drivers and provides statistics across a number of key primary industry sectors. Analysis of key factors for each industry will detail the impact on the GVP performance for each industry.

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