With good amounts of moisture during the growing season, citrus production and exports in Australia are expected to grow significantly for the 2021-22 marketing years, according to a UDSA report.
Australian orange production is forecast to increase by 2% to 535,000 metric tons in the 2021-22 season, according to the annual citrus report from the USDA’s Foreign Agricultural Service.
The country’s tangerine/mandarin production rated at 190,000 metric tons, up 6% compared with marketing year 2020-21, the report said.
The U.S. imported $17.4 million in Australian citrus in the 12-month period from December 2020 through November 2021, up 7% compared with the previous year.
Oranges and tangerines
Australia’s orange exports are forecast at 190,000 metric tons in 2021-22, up 19% from 160,000 metric tons in 2020-21, according to the report.
The harvest period in Australia’s three major production regions for navel oranges is usually from May to October, according to the USDA report. Valencia orange harvest typically runs from November to February.
The USDA said Australia’s mandarin planted area has increased 42% since 2014. Many of those trees are starting to bear fruit, according to the report. The USDA said Australia’s exports of tangerine/mandarins will reach a record 90,000 metric tons in 2022, according to the report.
Harvest of mandarins in Australia typically occurs between May and October, peaking in August, according to the USDA.
Harvest labor shortages over the last two seasons because of Australia’s international border closure have been a concern for growers, according to the report.
The USDA said Australia’s border opened in December 2021 and, at the same time, the federal government has established a new Agricultural Work visa program. That could provide some relief for farm labor, according to the report.
Last August, the USDA expanded the production areas in Australia authorized to import fresh citrus into the U.S. and is revising conditions under which citrus from Australia may be imported.
Currently, imports of fresh citrus fruit are allowed into the U.S. from the Riverina region of New South Wales, the Riverland region of South Australia and the Sunraysia region in Northwest Victoria. The USDA is authorizing three additional areas of Australia to export citrus to the U.S.: the inland region of Queensland, the regions that compose Western Australia, and the shires of Bourke and Narromine within New South Wales, according to the USDA report.
