RARE AND EXOTIC FRUIT PRODUCTION IN AUSTRALIA, 1983-1986
The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) have recently released their annual Agricultural Census results for 1985-86 which includes details of the level of rare and exotic fruit production in Australia. How has this level of production changed in recent years? I have analysed rare and exotic fruit production figures released by ABS for 1983-86 and the results provide an interesting profile of how rare and exotic fruit production in Australia has changed over the last three years, with these results being of particular interest and importance to the members of the Rare Fruit Council of Australia.
The level of production (tonnes) of selected rare and exotic fruits in Australia from 1983- 86 is shown in Table 1. The fruits showing the largest increases in production over this three year period were persimmons (+163%), lychees (+155%) and kiwifruit (+112%). The only decreases in production were guavas (-63%) and loquats (- 59%).
Given the increasing levels of production and consumer popularity of Australia's rare and exotic fruits, it will be interesting to see what happens to their production and corresponding gross value of production in the next few years.
TABLE 1
PRODUCTION OF RARE AND EXOTIC FRUITS OVER 1983 - 1986 (tonnes)
| Fruit | 1983-84 | 1985-86 | % Change 1985-86 on 1983-84 |
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- | |||
| Papaws | 4163 | 4967 | + 19% |
| Avocados | 5400 | 7500 | + 39% |
| Custard Apples | 400 | 600 | + 50% |
| Mangoes | 2500 | 4900 | + 96% |
| Kiwifruit | 277 | 588 | + 112% |
| Guavas | 388 | 142 | - 63% |
| Loquats | 46 | 19 | - 59% |
| Lychees | 58 | 148 | + 155 |
| Persimmons | 82 | 216 | + 163 % |
| Rambutans | 1 | 1 | 0% |
DATE: July 1988
* * * * * * * * * * * * *
