Australia Yearbook - 2001

Chapter 15—Agriculture 633
Fruit (excluding grapes)
A wide variety of fruit is grown in Australia,
ranging from pineapples, mangoes and pawpaws
in the tropics to pome, stone and berry fruits in
temperate regions. Table 15.27 shows the
number of trees for the main types of orchard
fruit, and the area under cultivation for bananas
and pineapples.
The principal fruit crops in Australia are apples,
oranges and bananas. However, some other fruit
types have experienced considerable growth in
recent years, for example mandarins and
strawberries. The most significant crops in terms
of gross value of production are apples, oranges
and bananas. In 1998–99 the value of the apple
crop increased by 19%, while the value of the
orange crop increased by 21%, and that of the
banana crop increased by 15% (table 15.28).
Grapes
Grapes, which are a temperate crop, require
warm to hot summer conditions for ripening and
predominantly winter rainfall. Freedom from late
spring frosts is essential. Grapes are grown for
winemaking, drying and, to a lesser extent, for
table use. Some of the better known wine
producing areas are the Barossa, Clare, Riverland,
Southern Districts and Coonawarra (South
Australia); north-eastern Victoria and Great
Western (Victoria); Hunter and Riverina (New
South Wales); Sunraysia (New South Wales and
Victoria); and Swan Valley and Margaret River
(Western Australia).
The gross value of grape production for 1998–99
increased by 12% to $1.1b (table 15.29).
Table 15.30 shows the area of vines and the
grapes produced by grape variety.
Apples
15.27 SELECTED FRUIT, Number of Trees(a), Area
Orchard fruit Area of selected tropical fruits(b)
Oranges
Pears(c)
Peaches
Bananas
Pineapples
Total area of
fruit (excluding
grapes)
Year
’000 trees ’000 trees ’000 trees ’000 trees
ha
ha
ha
1993–94 5 033 6 587 1 376 1 082 8 756 3 668 132 419
1994–95 5 101 6 297 1 317 1 245 8 281 3 209 128 258
1995–96 5 302 6 477 1 384 1 296 8 893 2 824 133 461
1996–97 5 656 6 736 1 416 1 475 9 589 2 668 137 086
1997–98 5 845 6 667 1 381 1 498 10 478 2 762 144 082
1998–99 5 969 6 400 1 401 1 509 11 405 2 821 145 265
(a) Number of trees six years and over. (b) Bearing area. (c) Excludes Nashi.
Source: AgStats (7117.0); Agricultural Commodities, Australia, 1998–99 (7121.0).
15.28 SELECTED FRUIT, Quantity and Value of Production
Year Apples Apricots Bananas Cherries Oranges Peaches Pears(a) Pineapples
Plums and
prunes
QUANTITY OF PRODUCTION (’000 t)
1993–94 306.9 21.2 219.2 6.4 582.1 59.4 155.2 157.4 26.1
1994–95 316.6 29.8 208.1 5.8 517.2 58.7 151.7 138.5 21.3
1995–96 280.0 21.6 220.0 4.8 442.1 60.4 156.0 127.9 21.4
1996–97 353.1 25.9 199.6 6.7 522.6 72.1 167.6 123.0 25.2
1997–98 308.9 19.9 223.0 7.0 499.8 64.8 152.9 123.0 26.4
1998–99 334.4 21.5 225.2 6.0 455.8 66.0 156.7 131.4 22.7
GROSS VALUE OF PRODUCTION ($m)
1993–94 237.6 27.1 203.3 27.0 230.0 53.2 89.0 45.2 37.2
1994–95 269.8 28.8 254.7 27.2 214.8 50.0 73.4 43.3 31.9
1995–96 305.3 30.7 224.9 22.7 219.5 50.3 90.7 36.4 33.4
1996–97 393.4 39.0 216.6 29.1 256.3 60.1 106.2 39.3 38.6
1997–98 272.7 31.0 230.3 28.4 253.5 53.4 107.8 37.3 44.1
1998–99 324.9 27.7 264.3 35.3 306.8 65.1 114.2 39.4 43.2
(a) Excludes Nashi.
Source: Value of Agricultural Commodities Produced, Australia (7503.0); Agriculture, Australia, 1998–99 (7113.0).