Avocado Production in Asia and the Pacific - United Nations in ...

AVOCADO PRODUCTION IN AUSTRALIA
Anthony W. Whiley *
1. INTRODUCTION
Avocados are recorded growing in Australia as early as the mid-eighteenth century.
However, the modern-day industry dates from 1928 with the first importation of named
varieties from California. Small quantities of fruit were first offered for sale on major
metropolitan markets during the mid-1930s where they were accepted for their novelty
value.
The industry initially developed on the subtropical eastern coast of Australia, in
southern Queensland and northern New South Wales (latitude 25 o S - 30 o S). Production has
since spread to all other mainland states where the crop is grown from latitudes 17 o S to 34 o S.
During the early years of development, the avocado industry could only be considered as a
'backyard' enterprise. Individual growers had small numbers of trees and inevitably were
engaged in some other form of horticultural pursuit for their major income source.
During the late 1960s and early 1970s, the fruit became popular in up-market
restaurants and hotels where it was seen as a luxury item. In 1974, abnormally high summer
rainfall affected the major production areas of Queensland and New South Wales,
decimating the industry. It was estimated that 50 per cent of all bearing trees in these two
states died by drowning or Phytophthora root rot, while most of the survivors went into
severe root rot decline. Subsequently high market prices resulted in large numbers of trees
being planted during the mid to late 1970s. These continued until 1987 when prices fell in
response to a fully supplied market, and the previous optimism was replaced by a concern of
over-production. Growth in the industry has been more moderate during the 1990s.
2. PRESENT SITUATION OF AVOCADO CULTIVATION
2.1 Production areas
Avocado production in Australia enjoys a wide geographic distribution growing
between latitudes 17°S (500 m asl) and 34°S. This environmental diversity, combined with
selected varieties, gives fruit supply to markets on a year-round basis. Production peaks
from June to November with lighter supplies during the summer months. Queensland and
New South Wales are the largest producing states with an estimated 60 and 30 per cent,
respectively. The balance of the crop is grown in Victoria, South Australia and Western
Australia where plantings are more recent but tree numbers are rapidly increasing, buoyed by
higher prices for summer production.
* Maroochy Research Station, Queensland Horticulture Institute, Department of Primary Industries, PO Box
5083, SCMC, Nambour 4560, Queensland, Australia.
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